Discovering Love
by scifen
Summary: Dom and Letty discover something more than friendship...
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** Basically the beginning of Dom and Letty. I know there's so many out there, but you can never have enough Dotty, right? ;-)

**Author's Note: **If you feel inclined to review please do so – good or bad. I like knowing what works, what doesn't, and any ways to improve my writing. Expect time jumps but not huge gaps. Those who have read my previous stories please note that they do not coincide with each other.

**Discovering Love**

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Dom dried off quickly from his shower and dressed into his blue jeans. It was only a matter of time before his father would be yelling for him to hurry up – he hated when they were late for school. He sat on his bed, slipped on his socks, and laced up his converses. When his laces were tied he rose to his feet in search for a clean shirt.

His room was an utter mess; toys sprawled throughout the hardwood floors –loitered with clean and dirty articles of clothing.

Dom began to ransack through the stock piles of clothing in search of his favorite t-shirt.

"Where are you," he whispered to himself.

"Dominic, let's go!" the senior Toretto yelled from downstairs, "You're going to be late and we still have to pick up Vince."

_Calm down old man, it just means we'll have to driver faster_, he thought. "Gimmie a second," Dom yelled back.

It was in moments like this where he missed his mother. She would have him up an hour before it was time to leave, have breakfast ready, and his clothes lay out on his bed after showers – she was the perfect housewife and the perfect mom, but unfortunately, all good things come to an end. It was middle semester of the second-grade when his mother was taken from his life. He and Mia were pulled out of school early by their grief stricken father. At the tender age of seven his mind couldn't quite grasp his father's words. He remembers hearing them – café, robbery, gun-shot, died – but his mind refused to apply them to a situation involving his mother. It took the better part of the year to accept and attempt to move forward but they did and here they are – a trio like modern day musketeers.

"Dominic, your second was up two minutes ago. Get your butt down here now," Anthony yelled once more.

Dom sighed in frustration. "Okay, I just gotta put on a shirt."

Just when he had given up all hope on finding his favorite shirt his eyes caught sight of it at the foot of his bed.

"Yes," he breathed out in relief. He swiftly picked up the light-grey muscle car shirt and pulled it over his head.

Within seconds he was out of his bedroom door and downstairs sliding into his father's 1970 Chevelle SS.

"You know, I'm catching on to you Dominic," his father muttered out as he revved his engine. "I think you like leaving the house late so we can drive fast."

Dom smiled mischievously, "I have no idea what you're talking about pop."

And just like that his father swooped by to pick up Vince and had them in front of their elementary school five minutes before school started.

Dom patted his father's shoulder, "Nice drivin' dad. You're gonna have to show me that sweet drift move you pulled back there."

"Yeah, Mr. T. You gotta give up the secrets," Vince added as he climbed out of the car.

Anthony only shook his head in amusement. "I teach you boys too much about cars. Have a good day a school, and Dom, look out for your sister."

Dominic shook his head. "You can never know too much about cars, stop talking crazy. And don't worry I'll look after Mia, see ya later."

Mia climbed from the backseat to the front, kissed her father's cheek, and said goodbye.

Dom and Vince walked Mia to her third-grade class and gave her the usual beginning of the school year pep-talk – that if anyone bothers her to tell he or Vince and they'll take care of it. At the young age of ten he was already possessed with the protective brother qualities. Mia complied but knew she would not have to tell her brother anything – she was friends with everybody, the peacemaker.

Dom and Vince left Mia and jogged to their fifth grade class to meet their friends. Before they could commiserate the new fifth grade teacher opened the classroom door and motioned for everyone to come inside. They each took a desk that was essentially in the center and all of their friends and fellow classmates filled the empty chairs around them.

They greeted everyone with a nod of their head, wave of their hand, or simple words of "hey, how's it going?" They were the popular kids amongst their peers and enjoyed every minute of it.

"Good morning everyone, my name is Mrs. Wilson and I'll be your fifth grade teacher for the year," she announced. "I'm going to take attendance. Those of you who are not familiar with this, I'm going to read off all off the class names and when you hear yours say 'here'. Good? Okay then, here we go."

"Vincent Martinez," Mrs. Wilson said loudly.

"It's Vince, lady," Vince corrected her – his voice laced with attitude. Everyone's heads immediately turned to him. They knew this was going to be good.

The teacher was slightly taken back by his response. "Excuse me?"

Vince rolled his eyes. He hated when adults made him repeat himself when they clearly heard him the first time. "Vincent is lame. Call me Vince, thanks lady."

"My name is not lady, its Mrs. Wilson and that's how you'll address me, _Vincent_."

Vince mocked her with a hilarious face and high pitched squeaky voice that made the whole class erupt in laughter. "Shut your pie hole already. I'm here, move on to the next name."

The teacher was stunned at this point – she couldn't quite grasp that he was being so disrespectful. "Silence everyone! Mr. Martinez gather your things and head to the principal's office right now."

"Great, rather be there than in this lame classroom," Vince said delighted. "See you later, Dom."

Dom simply nodded as he laughed with the rest of his classmates. It was just like Vince to get in trouble the first day of school.

The teacher continued with roll call and started giving a speech about respect. It was annoying Dom to oblivion. His ears were thanking his new teacher when she finally closed her mouth. Vince left her in a pretty bad mood because she started the day off with annoying grammar work. _Thanks a lot V_, Dom thought to himself.

With his sidekick missing Dom was forced to focus on his class work, so much so, that for the first time the tip of his pencil became dull. He rose from his desk and approached the pencil sharpener but was shoved to the side by a fellow classmate. When he saw who it was he became angry. From the first day he met Johnny Tran they never hit it off – and to think their feud in a tether ball match sparked it all.

"Hey, punk, you cut in front of me," Dom stated and shoved his rival into the wall.

"You're going to pay for that," Johnny Tran breathed out as he lunged at Dom.

Within in seconds the whole class was chanting "fight" and the teacher was rushing to break the young boys up. When she failed, she resorted to calling the principal himself. He arrived quickly, separated the wrestling boys and escorted them to the front office.

Dom entered to see Vince grinning from ear to ear. "Well, that didn't take long."

"Shut up V," Dom said as he lightly punched Vince in the arm. "This chump started it."

"Quiet you two," the principal ordered. "Johnny, I'll see you first."

"What happened bro?" Vince asked curiously – he always loved details to a fight.

"What else? He was acting like a chump so I wrestled him to the ground. Got a few body shots in there," Dom explained.

Before Vince could suggest retaliation the sound of the front office doors opening stopped him. In walked a middle aged woman with her tom-boy looking daughter. Her mom approached the front desk and informed the one of the faculty members her daughter was here for her first day of school. The tom-boy looking girl wore loose fitting jeans and a black t-shirt with a 70 Plymouth graphic on the front, accompanied with black converse. Her hair was pulled back into a slick pony tail, with her bangs cascading down the sides of her face. She looked bored and disinterested as she fiddled with the dog tags around her neck.

"Check out the beauty queen," Vince whispered facetiously to Dom.

Dom began to laugh but soon stopped when the girl turned and gave them the most deadliest glare they'd ever seen.

"Leticia, behave. Please do not get into trouble on your first day," her mother pleaded.

She reluctantly turned around and averted her attention to the front desk before her eyes turned them to ash.

A few minutes later a TA came and escorted the new student to her class. It only took fifteen minutes for her to return to the front office – escorted by the trouble police, as Vince called them.

Dom and Vince looked at her quizzically.

"Damn, you're back already?" Vince asked.

"Yup," was all she replied with as she handed her slip to the disapproving faculty member.

"What'd you do to get sent up here?" Dom asked next.

She sighed. "Some stupid kid thought it would be funny to pull my chair away as I was going to sit, so I hit him with it."

Vince started to laugh, "You hit some kid with your chair? That's what I'm talking about. I think I'm gonna like you."

"Yippie," she said sarcastically and turned her attention to her folder to pull out her favorite car magazine. She was reading up on a supped up Nissan 240SX.

"You like that car?" Vince asked incredulously.

She sighed and grudgingly tore her eyes from her magazine, "Yeah, and?"

Vince gave her a pompous look, "Someone doesn't know about cars."

"Pfft, I probably know more than you," she stated confidently.

This caused Dom and Vince to laugh hysterically. This girl was a piece of work. They assumed all girls possessed the same knowledge that Mia did with cars – absolutely nothing.

She rolled her eyes at their typical responses to a girl knowing anything about cars. "This baby right here has rear wheel drive, multilink rear suspension, and equipped with 2.4 liter, four-cylinder engine. It has sharp and balanced handling – which has recently been compared to the porsche's. With the proper modifications it'll surpass its already amazing abilities. So yeah, I _like_ this car."

Vince was left dumbfounded and mouth agape. Dom, however, was beyond impressed that a girl – younger than him – possessed such great knowledge about cars.

"Damn, you know your stuff – pretty impressive for an eight year old." Dom praised.

"Eight and a half," she corrected before continuing, "And you ride in a pretty sweet Chevelle SS."

Dom furrowed his brow, "How do you know my dad has a Chevelle?"

"I saw you guys speed down the street this morning. Me and my mom just moved into the white and blue house down the street." She answered.

"Really? I didn't even notice any moving trucks," he said more to himself.

She smiled, "When you're going that fast why bother to pay attention to anything else than the car and the road ahead."

"Exactly," Dom and Vince said in unison.

That was all it took. The three of them immediately engaged in detailed conversation about their dreams cars, imports versus muscle, and their favorite drivers. By the end of the conversation Dom and Vince were blown away by this new girl, so much so, that they did not want the conversation to end – talking about cars was like breathing in oxygen, it just needed to happen.

Before Dom could properly introduce him and Vince the sound of her mother's voice stopped him.

"Leticia, are you kidding me?" she asked disbelievingly.

The principal emerged from his office, handing Johnny a pass back to class. Dom shook his head, Johnny and his family always got away with everything.

"Mrs. Ortiz," the principal began, "please take your daughter home and have her return when she can show proper behavior for school. Consider yourself lucky for the parents not pressing charges."

"I'm so sorry. This will not happen again. I assure you," she said as she glared at her daughter. "Let's go."

"Let's hope so," he said, "Vince get in here."

Vince stood from his chair and walked toward his office, undaunted about the lecture or call home that was to occur.

"Bye Leticia," he said before closing the principal's door.

She rose from her chair, "Later, man."

"Bye, Leticia. I'm Dom, by the way."

"You can call me Letty. Nice meetin' ya. Maybe I'll see you around later," she responded a little more enthusiastic than she wanted to.

When Letty slid into her mother's car she tuned out the lecture about fighting – especially with boys – and replayed her conversations with Dom and Vince. Even though her facial expression didn't show it, she was excited to become their friends – especially Dom's. By the way he intricately spoke about cars and their engines; she knew his love and devotion for them was equivalent to her own. It was as though his immense obsession was pulling her to be friends with him.

Letty was itching to hang out with the boys already and wished she could psychically speed up time. Their potential friendship was giving her a reason to like Los Angeles. She didn't want to leave her home in Batacosa, Mexico, but the rift that formed between her mother and father sent her drifting to California. As soon as the wheels of her mother's car started to turn she instantly started to miss her father. Under the tough exterior she was daddy's little girl. He taught her all she knew about cars, their engines, and every tool imaginable. She inhaled deeply thinking about him and clenched his dog tags from his hay days in the army.

"Damn this car is always giving out more exhaust than it should," her mother breathed out in frustration.

"It's probably the timing belt. Dad didn't get a chance to change it," Letty mumbled out.

Her mother looked at her through the rearview mirror, "Leticia, I don't want to talk about anything involving your father."

Letty rolled her eyes and peered out the window. _Whatever_, she thought. She had a great relationship with her father, it wasn't her fault that things fell through between them – she didn't quite understand why she had to suffer, but she dealing.

"What do you say we stop at this café?" her mother asked, trying to cheer up her daughter's smug expression.

"Yeah, sure," she said.

The rest of Letty's morning was spent eating breakfast at Toretto's café and more lectures. By the late afternoon the scene shifted to purchasing linens for the new house – which bored her to unconsciousness. All her mind was on was Dom and Vince and their love for cars. So when three o' clock rolled around Letty convinced her mom to head back home, but as fate would have it their car overheated.

"Just great," Letty breathed out in frustration as she climbed out of the backseat. "Now what?" she asked her mom.

Letty's mom took a look at her surroundings and spotted a car garage. "Come on, let's go," she ordered and led the way to DT Automotive.

They were greeted by a typical greased up mechanic and Letty's mother explained their situation. A couple of other mechanics towed the overheated car to the side of the garage. While Letty's mother, Anna, began talking to one of the workers about the problems with her car, Letty let her eyes saunter over all the projects at hand. This was by far the greatest looking garage she'd ever seen – if people got to choose what their heaven would be like, this would be Letty's. As her eyes peered over all the metal-beauties in the garage her eyes found Dom.

He waved and began to approach her.

"How much?!? I'm sorry but that is too much," Anna practically screamed out.

Her voice made him stop and retract his steps in search of his father.

"Hey pop, you got a second?" He asked.

His father rolled out from underneath his Chevelle, "Yeah. What is it son?"

"Well, my friend's car looks like the timing belt snapped – on an interference engine, so you know there's a lot of damage. But you think we can knock the price down?" Dom asked eagerly.

His father simply smiled. He was a genuinely nice guy and would do anything to help out a friend or the friend's of his kids. "Let's go have a look."

Dom returned to the scene with his father winking at Letty, which caused her to smile sweetly. It slightly caught Dom off guard because he thought she had a pretty amazing smile.

"What seems to be the problem here Joseph?" the senior Toretto asked.

"Timing belt snapped but Anna here feels the price is too high," the young mechanic explained.

"I"ll take over from here, go out back and help Jamie with the shipment that just came in," he instructed and then faced Letty's mother. "Anna, is it? I'm Anthony, the owner of this shop and since this is your first time here at DT it's on the house."

Anna was flabbergasted by his generous offer. "Thank you, so much. We just moved here and we're trying to get settled, so this really means a lot."

Anthony nodded. "No problem. We should have your car read in a few hours. One of my mechanics will drive you home if you like."

Letty couldn't stop smiling at Dom and his father's gesture; she only stopped to mouth the words "Thank you." She was fully enthralled by the shop, so much that she pleaded with her mother to let her stay until their car was done – and by some miracle she allowed her to. Within minutes her, Dom, and Vince resumed their conversations about cars but this time pausing to share personal info about their lives. Talking to Letty was easy and uncomplicated. It was as though she had been there from the beginning. They even ventured together throughout the garage and watched other mechanics work, especially Dom's father – who took the time to explain everything in detail.

It was when Letty was admiring an unfinished, black charger that she met Mia.

"Hey," Mia said cheerfully as she trotted toward everyone, "you're the new girl in my glass, you threw your chair at Johnny Tran's little cousin."

_Oh great thanks for bringing that up in front of Dom's dad_, Letty thought. "Uh-yeah-that-uh-was me," she admitted reluctantly.

Mr. Toretto chuckled, "Ah, it's no wonder you're friends with Dominic and Vince."

Vince's cheeks lifted into a wide grin, "Letty, you're going to fit in great around here."

Letty's embarrassment seemed to vanish with Mr. T and Vince's comments. It made her feel great that she was instantly accepted. Everyone here seemed to posses uncommon characteristics – an understanding and best of all, no judgment. She didn't think it would be possible to consider Los Angeles home, but with people like this surrounding her it was becoming inevitable. And just like that she became a part of the Toretto team.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **I decided to play write grades 6-8 being a junior high -- you just gotta have Dom and Letty and the same school. I think that's it. I have not fully proof-read so I promise any mistakes you find, I'll fix them soon. Take care and l'd appreciate any kind of feedback.

* * *

That evening Letty and her mother were invited to dinner by an eccentric Mia. She was eager to get to know her new classmate and make a new friend. It was just a part of Mia's nature to be friends with everyone – so when the car shop closed up for the day Letty and her mother followed Anthony and company back to Dom's house.

While the boys went to wash off the engine grease from the day's work, Mia played hostess and got to know Letty and her mother a little better.

"So, how do you like LA?" She asked politely.

"Well, it's definitely different from Mexico, but its nice here – more industrial. I can get used to this." Anna answered sincerely.

"It's cool here. I miss my cousins and," Letty paused to contemplate on whether she should mention her father, "and stuff, but I can get used to this kind of atmosphere."

"That's great. LA is a fun place. And when summer comes around the beaches and barbecues are going to be awesome, you'll love them," Mia said with excitement.

Anthony was the first to emerge from upstairs. "Sorry for the wait ladies, I'm going to get started on dinner right now."

"Mr. Toretto, would you like some help in the kitchen?" Anna offered.

"Nonsense, you and Letty are the guest – that means you get to kick up your feet and relax," he declined politely.

Anna stood from the sofa, "Please, let me help out. It's the least I could do for the kindness you've showed me today."

Before he could decline once more Anna was already making her way to the kitchen. "Alright then."

Letty knew he mother wanted to sincerely help out, it wasn't in her nature to sit back and not work, but she was also being motherly. If her daughter was going to be hanging around his garage and children then she wanted to know exactly what kind of man he was.

"Hey Letty, wanna come upstairs and hang out in my room until the food is done?" Mia asked.

"Sure." Letty answered as she followed Mia up the wooden steps.

By the noises coming from Dom's room across the hall Letty could tell he and Vince were playing Nintendo – Tecmo Super Bowl to be exact.

"They're always playing that game," Mia stated as she opened her bedroom door.

"Nice paint job. I like the color of your room," Letty said as she scanned the room.

"Thanks, I like it a lot. It's not too pink and not too purple."

"I want my first car to be this color," Letty confessed.

"Hey, you wanna paint our nails until the food is done?" Mia asked excitedly.

"Sure," Letty agreed.

Mia scurried off to the bathroom in the hall and returned to her room carrying a rather large case containing an immense assortment of nail polishes.

"Ok, I'll paint yours first, and when yours dries you do mine," Mia planned. "Which color do you want?"

Letty sifted through the box and fumbled between blue and magenta before finally choosing an aubergine shade.

Mia smiled sweetly, "Nice choice." She placed a paper towel on the floor and Letty sprawled her fingers on it.

"Can I ask you something?" Mia asked as she dipped the thin brush in the purple liquid.

"Yeah, shoot." Letty said, her eyes focused on her nails.

"Earlier, when you said you missed your cousins, you were going to say someone else, but didn't. Who was it? A boyfriend?" Mia asked as she arched one of her eye brows.

Letty lightly chuckled. "A boyfriend? No. Its my dad that I miss. Things between him and my mom went bad I guess, so that's why we moved here. "

"Oh," Mia said in a low tone, "sorry."

"It's okay. We have a plan to call each other every night. I won't be able to see him but at least we'll get to talk."

"Yeah, that's cool. You know, if you ever want to talk about it I'm here to listen," Mia offered.

"Thanks," Letty smiled.

"Okay, other hand," Mia told Letty.

"You did a good job, thanks." Letty said.

Before Mia could explain her countless hours of painting her and friends nails Dom and Vince came trudging down the hall to her room.

"Hey Letty, you wanna come play some Tecmo bowl?" Vince asked.

"Yeah, come play Letty, I'm getting tired of beating Vince. Maybe you'll be a challenge, maybe," Dom teased.

"Sure, after Mia finishes my other hand," Letty answered.

Dom and Vince looked at each other quizically. _What did she just say_, they both thought as they entered Mia's room.

"You paint your nails?" Vince asked incredulously.

Letty turned her head towards Vince. "Yeah, what's wrong with that?"

"Nothing's wrong with it. But only girls do that," Vince explained.

Mia threw a rag at Vince's face, "She is a girl, you idiot!"

When Dom's laughter settled he spoke. "What he means is girly-girls do that. You're a tom boy, just caught us off guard."

"Yeah, I meant it's okay for girly-girls but for tom-boys its, just wrong." Vince added.

"Who says I'm a tom boy?" Letty asked disbelievingly.

"Well, you dress different from other girls, and you're into cars, and you're tough." Vince answered.

Letty started to laugh. "And that classifies me as a tom boy? Oh, you are simple minded," she said as she sat up and started to blow on her nails. "I wear what I like, whether it be baggy or close fitting – pink or black. Yes, I like cars, but being into cars just isn't for boys – and just because I'm into cars doesn't mean I can't polish my nails. Just because I'm into what you are doesn't mean I have to limit myself to certain things or put myself in a category. I'm me, and that's that."

Letty blew one final gush of air on her nails and stood upright, "Now, let's go play some tecmo bowl."

Mia smiled proudly as she passed a stunned Dom and Vince and followed Letty to Dom's room. Letty made them feel stupid for assuming she was a tom-boy and only into guy things. Preordained assumptions left their brains after Letty set them straight about placing people – especially girls – in categories. To Letty, it didn't matter what race, what age, or what gender people were, everyone should have the freedom to be themselves without being labeled or put in segregated categories.

Letty beat Dom by a field goal in the first game, and completely slaughtered him in the next two.

"Damn," Dom breathed out in frustration.

Letty smirked, "Yawn, too easy."

"Best of five. Come on let's go," Dom challenged.

"Bro, you lost three times already. Save whatever dignity you have left," Vince teased.

Mia and Letty laughed as Dom and Vince initiated in a pillow fight.

"Dinner is ready," Mr. Toretto yelled from the kitchen.

Letty tossed the Nintendo controller to the side and trotted downstairs with Mia, and left Dom and Vince to finish their playful pillow fight.

"What's for dinner dad?" Mia asked as she took a seat next to Letty.

"Chicken carbanara," he answered, as he set down big plates of hot, steaming, pasta with chicken.

"Mmm, one of my favorites. You'll have to teach me this recipe dad," Mia said as she grabbed her fork and started to twirl some pasta.

Before the fork full of pasta and chicken could reach her mouth her father lightly tapped her hand away. "You're saying grace. Wait for your brother and Vince."

Letty gave Mia a look of confusion as Mr. Toretto and her mother went to gather more plates. "What was that about?"

"Oh, it's this thing we do. Who ever reaches in for their food first has to grace," Mia answered.

As Mr. Toretto and Anna emerged from the kitchen to the table Dom and and Vince came trudging downstairs. They took seats besides each other and on the opposite side of Mia and Letty.

Mr. Toretto and Anna each sat at the ends of the table.

"Alright everyone, Mia is going to say grace." Mr. T announced.

Dom silently mouthed "Ha ha" to Mia before closing his eyes and clasping his hands together.

Mia cleared her throat and closed her eyes. "Dear, Lord, thank you for blessing my father with awesome cooking skills, and this great meal he's made all of us. Thanks for a loving, yet butt-head brother, and Vince. And thanks for sending Letty and her mom our way, we're more than glad to have em. Amen."

"Amen," everyone said in unison and began to dig in.

The evening was enjoyable for all. It was a prime example of great company with great food. Everyone participating in the back and forth banter. Letty gloated about her three victorious wins over Dom, and Mia and Vince egged it on. Mr. Toretto and Anna were enjoying the children's joshing and joined in on the laughs. During that time they settled on the idea of Letty joining them on morning rides to school.

Letty and her mother left at a reasonable time. They said their goodbyes and ventured to their car for a short ride home.

"Anthony is a nice man. I like him," Anna blurted out.

Letty quickly glared at her mother. "Ma, please tell me you're not trying to hook up with Mr. T."

Anna looked at her daughter with disbelief. "How could you think that? I am through with dating mechanics. And unlike you young kids, us adults know how to have a platonic relationship."

Letty let out a sigh of relief. _Good,_ she thought. When they arrived home she raced to her room and dialed the international number to her father. She spent hours on the phone telling him all about the new friends she made, and of course how much she missed him.

The next day Letty arrived at the Toretto's household bright and early. Dom – who was surprisingly ready to go – opened the front door to reveal a slightly different dressed Letty. She was dressed in dark, close fitting jeans, purple tank top, and her worn out black converse. If Letty wouldn't have gave him and Vince a little speech about labeling people, he would have been shocked to her wearing such "girly" clothes, but he wasn't and greeted her normally.

"Morning Dom, Mr. T," Letty greeted.

"Whats up Letty, want some breakfast?" Dom asked.

Letty declined and joined Mia upstairs in her room. "Hey Mia, what you up to?"

"Nothing just finished polishing my nails," Mia said as she tightened the cap to a pink bottle, "I wanted my nails to match my shirt."

Letty laughed. "Great minds think alike," she said as she fiddled her fingers next to her purple shirt.

"Nice," Mia stated.

"Girls, let's get going, we gotta pick up Vince," Mr. Toretto yelled as he headed out the front door.

Mia and Letty jogged downstairs and climbed into the back seat of the sweet Chevelle SS, while Dom took shotgun next to his father. Mr. Toretto was surprised that Dom was dressed and ready for school so early. It would be the first time that they arrived at school so early. However, that was quickly squashed while waiting for Vince, and once again Mr. T had to rush to get them to school at least five minutes before school started.

The second day of the school year turned out a lot better. Letty ignored Johnny's cousin, Lance, and spent the day meeting her new teacher, hearing lectures, and becoming acquainted with Mia's friends. At lunch, she ended up giving Mia's circle of friends the same little speech she gave Dom and Vince when they gave her a funny look for flipping through pages of a car magazine.

Dom and Vince were impressed with Letty's Nintendo skills, so much so, that they skipped lunch in the cafeteria, and went straight to the playground to challenge Letty's athletic skills. Dom owned in tether ball – beating Letty and Vince to oblivion. However, Letty, owned in a game of horse by never missing a shot. Poor Vince didn't have a chance in neither.

By the end of the school day all four of them climbed into Mr. T's Chevelle and headed toward DT Automotive. That morning Letty mentioned to Mr. T that her mom said it was okay for her to go to the garage after school. Mr. Toretto simply nodded as if it was already becoming a routine occurrence.

It was no surprise to Anthony that Letty became a frequent visitor at DT Automotive, and gradually at his house. His son simply attained a unique quality – similar to a gravitational pull – that navigated people into their lives. It first festered when he was in the third grade with Vince and now it was happening with Letty. He didn't mind that Dom brought a selective few into their family, in fact, he liked that his son was able to form close bonds – something he thought would never occur since the passing of his mother. The friendship that formed between Letty, Dom, Mia, and Vince seemed to happen instantaneous.

For the rest of the school year Letty became a regular rider in the Chevelle, as well as a regular attendee at DT. She was included in repair work and her vote even counted in family discussions at Mr. T's house. She attended every barbecue they held and was even allowed to spend the night frequently. One thing she always made sure to do was call her father for hour long conversations.

As days and weeks elapsed Letty's relationship with everyone changed – further nestling her way into their family. Mr. T was like a second father, and the best mechanic and driver on the planet, aside from her own father. Mia became the sister she never had and could talk to her about anything and everything. Vince became one of her best buddies, and posed as a fun, loving, big brother. He looked out for her, and became slightly protective, feeling as though it was becoming a necessary duty. The best part of their relationship was the constant jokes and playful banter. It was her relationship with Dom that evolved the most. He was the definition of her best friend. Not only did they share and talk about their immense passion for cars, racing, and engines, but they opened up to each other on a personal level that fell short with Mia. Sometimes they would stay up late when everyone in the house was asleep and talk about how much they missed the other parent that was missing in their life. The comfort level they reached was enormous, so much so, that they often showed vulnerability with each other.

Weeks turned into months, and months turned into a year with Letty, Dom, and everyone else still intact. The relationships stayed the same, as well as the activities and escapades they embarked on. Rides to school were still done in Mr. T's Chevelle. After school activities always began at DT, learning new techniques and inquiring about the latest parts in racing. Movies night were held on Saturday nights, and Sundays – as long as the sun was out – was for barbecuing. Summers were spent at the local beach swimming and body surfing. Dom and his father eventually finished putting together the black, 900 horsepower, dodge charger. He even started racing in the pro-stock circuit. They comfortably fell into that routine for another another year. Another year where everyone would make new discoveries as they entered junior high.

Summer flew by with swift wings and the first day of junior high for Mia and Letty was tomorrow. Dom and Vince said they would show them the ropes and introduce them to all the popular kids – get them into their social circle. Mia was ecstatic about it. Letty, however, seemed distracted. Her relationship with her father had abruptly altered and had fallen into slight depression. They had consistently kept in contact every single day, for almost two years, but the in the last month of summer there was nothing, until today.

Dom could sense something was off with Letty these past four weeks. First there was the fact that she started to spend less and less time at the shop. Then there was the fact that she opted to stay home instead of going to the always, invigorating race tracks to watch Mr. T race. He felt like he needed to get to the bottom of things and find out exactly what was going on with his best friend. So, Dom declined Mia and Vince's invitation to the movies and chose to jog over to Letty's house.

"Hey Mrs. Ortiz, is Letty here?" Dom quickly asked before Anna drove off to work.

"Yeah, I think she's out back on the porch," Anna answered.

Dom waved and thanked her as she reversed from the driveway. "Alright, thanks. Have a good a day at work, Mrs. Ortiz."

Dom made his way to the side gate and made his way into the back yard. There he saw Letty sitting on the back porch, with her head buried into her bent knees.

"Hey, Letty, you okay?" Dom asked, his voice full of concern and worry.

Letty jerked at the sound of his voice and tried to wipe the tears from her eyes away quickly. "Hey," she responded in a raspy voice.

"Let, why are you crying? What's going on?" He asked as he approached and took a seat beside her.

"What are you talking about? I'm not crying," she said dismissively.

"Let, who are you trying to kid? You can clearly see tears wanting to spill out. You can even see dried streaks of tears on your cheeks. Now tell me what is wrong," Dom demanded.

Letty rubbed her eyes vigorously at the unwanted tears. "Dom, I am not crying. It's hot as hell out here, my eyeballs are just sweating. Now drop it."

Dom sighed in frustration. He hated when Letty was so difficult. "Letty, please tell me what's going on with you. Seriously, you've been so distant these past few weeks. Let me in, tell me what's wrong. Please don't shut me out. I'm here for you, so tell me."

Each word that left his mouth seemed to calm her. He was saying all the right things that made her fess up.

"It's about my dad," she said in a shaky voice.

Dom nodded and scooted closer to her.

"He-um-he enlisted back into the army," Letty admitted reluctantly.

"How did he enlist in the army if he lives in Mexico. I'm sure you gotta be a citizen to do that."

Letty shook her head. "My mom and dad were born in Arizona, they're citizens. We moved to Batacosa when I was five. He was in the army before I was even born. Anyway, he moved back to Arizona a month ago and supposedly he's already serving his time. So now, instead of nightly calls I'll be getting random letters god knows when."

Dom noticed the anger that filled her voice and wrapped one of his lengthy arms around her. "I'm sorry, Let."

"It was hard enough not being able to see him, but now he's in the army and I won't get any phone calls until who knows when, or some letter. And why couldn't he come here and say goodbye to me-I mean-what-" Letty said angrily before breaking down into painful sobs.

Dom immediately wrapped both arms around her tightly. He started to lightly massage her arm and whispered that everything would be okay, that he was there for her. They stayed in that position for a long time. Letty eventually stopped sobbing and relaxed in Dom's arms. His arms, they felt so safe wrapped around her like that. His bronze skin touching her's sent slight sparks through her body. It was a feeling she never felt before, one she couldn't fathom. _Where is this all coming from_, she thought. Letty slightly shifted and nestled her face into his warm neck. She inhaled his scent, which surprisingly put her at ease even more. These new feelings she was discovering slightly shook her, so much so, that she pulled away from Dom's embrace.

She smiled sweetly at him. "Thanks Dom, for everything. You're the best."

"Any time Let, I'm always here for you," he said sincerely. "Now, what do you say we go get some pizza?"

"Sounds good. Let me just go wash my face. I'll be right back," she said and made her way inside to the bathroom.

She approached the sink and splashed her face with cool water – not only to clean up dried up tear streaks – but to attempt to shake the unusual feelings that were manifesting because Dom's arms were around her. Before opening the bathroom door she took a deep breath, still trying to shake these new discoveries. If only she knew of what lay ahead of her tomorrow. Not only would a new rush of feelings emerge but she would find out some of the recentl discoveries Dom has made.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** I'd like to thank everyone for the wonderful feedback – it's very much appreciated. It is, after all, the readers and the reviews that keep the fic going. And just in case there is any confusion, Letty and Mia are entering 6th grade, while Dom and Vince are entering 8th.

* * *

Letty had no time to contemplate the feelings that occurred while she was nestled in Dom's arms. By the time they reached the local pizza parlor those feelings were suppressed by pepperoni pizza, hot wings, processed sugar, and cars. That's how easy being in each other's company came to be. The whole world and all its problems slowly dissolved away whenever they engaged in activities or simple conversation. Their little escapade continued to DT, where they met up with Vince and Mia. From there all four of them ventured to the Toretto household for a barbecue for the final day of summer freedom.

By the time Letty's head made contact with her feathery pillow, the upsetting situation with her father became a little more bearable. There was something the Torettos possessed – especially Dom – that made people feel comforted and safe. Having them in her life gave her a sense of security that everything would be just fine, no matter how dire the situation was. And for the first time in four weeks, she fell into a peaceful slumber with no worries of her father ready to disturb her body's perfect equanimity.

Letty's eyelids listlessly opened as her mother hit the ceiling below her bedroom with a broomstick. She experienced one of the most peaceful sleeps last night. She inhaled and exhaled slowly as she forced her eyes to focus on the green digital numbers to her broken alarm clock. 6:25 AM. Letty never had to wake up this early to get ready for school, but now entering junior high, she'd learn it comes with the territory – A small price to pay for getting out earlier.

"I'm up," Letty groaned out sleepily to make her mother stop pounding the ceiling.

Letty slowly sprawled out all four limbs and reflexively curled her fingers and toes – causing them to crack – before kicking the blanket off her body. She sat upright and lazily sauntered to the bathroom for a lukewarm, morning, shower to wake her up. As she trekked back to her bedroom it suddenly dawned on her that today was the first day of junior high. She tried to shake the light flutters that began rustling in her stomach but failed. She and Mia were the equivalent to "seniors" last year in their elementary school, and now, here they were, getting ready to start all over again – having to climb the social latter once more.

With that notion in her mind she breathed out, "Great."

As she pushed hangers to the side in her closet and rummaged through the drawers of her dresser, she regretted not going shopping with Mia for new clothes last week. It was this odd unwritten rule that you had to go shopping for new clothes for the start of a new school year – one that Letty did not follow this year.

After moments of indecisiveness passed, she finally settled on slipping into a pair of dark denim shorts, and simple white tank top. She glanced at the digital green numbers and started quickly braiding her wet hair into a tight french braid. After lacing up her low-top, white, converses, she trekked downstairs into the kitchen, and grabbed a package of pop tarts before heading out the front door.

Letty took a deep breath and enjoyed the crisp, cool, morning air before it could be polluted by the daily commuters. She trotted down the wet cemented sidewalk caused by the sprinklers and crossed the dark asphalt to the Torettos' house. She firmly knocked on the front door and waited to be let in.

"Morning, Mr. T," Letty greeted.

"You know Letty, you can just come right in, you don't have to knock. You're family," Anthony stated as he moved aside to let Letty inside.

"I know, I know," Letty said as she trudged upstairs towards Mia's room. "Hey, chica. You ready for junior high?"

"No, I'm so nervous," Mia utter out as she gathered up multiple outfits to wear for the first day of school. "This is new territory for us, Let. It's like we're back to being the little kids again. The only thing I'm not nervous about is seeing all the cute, new boys."

"I'm a little nervous too," Letty confessed, "but I think we'll be good. Dom and Vince said they'd introduce to us."

Mia crinkled her nose. "Yeah, I guess. I want to make my own friends though."

Letty simply smiled. "Hey, you mind if use one of your nail polishes?"

"Help yourself. I'm gonna get ready, so scoot, scoot," Mia said as she waved her off and closed her bedroom door.

Letty left Mia's room and made her way to the hall bathroom. She flicked on the lights and rummaged through Mia's large assortment of polishes. After picking a satisfying color she plopped down on the toilet lid and splayed her fingers on the countertop and began polishing her nails.

Dom padded quickly down the worn out wooden floors and toward the bathroom. He paused at the door frame to admire the figure sitting on the closed-lid toilet. He had never seen Letty in shorts, and he's not sure what possessed him to stare at her bare, caramel legs with fascination, but he did. Before she could notice, he shook his head from his unusual thoughts about her legs and cleared his throat.

Letty slightly jolted at the sound. "Sorry Dom, I'll be done in a min-"she began but paused as she lifted her head to see Dom. He was wearing nothing but basketball shorts, leaving his upper body completely exposed. His physique was changing; his shoulders looked slightly broader, arms starting to show outlining of small muscles, and his stomach showing small, visible, etchings of abs. _When did he start working out?_ She wondered. She had been so disconnected the past month she failed to notice that Dom and Vince were trying to build some formidable masculinity.

She reluctantly tore her eyes from his body and spoke. "I'll be done in a minute."

Dom smirked at Letty's eyes lingering on his body. It only made him anxious for the ladies at school to see what he had built up during the summer. "It's alright, Let. We can share the space. I'm just gonna line up the edges to my taper. I didn't get to make it to the barber shop," he said casually as he plugged in his clippers.

Letty forced her eyes to remain fixed on her nails, but found the task difficult as she occasionally stole quick glances to his body. As she finished and began drying her nails with her breath, she wondered what the hell was happening to her. These new thoughts and admiring glances at Dom's body were manifesting at a rapid rate. She wanted them to stop; this was her best friend, which made it feel wrong to have these types of feelings.

"Nothing like a dark depressing color to start off your day," Dom stated as he brushed the little specks of hair that had fallen onto his shoulders and chest.

"Since when is black nail polish a depressing color?" Letty asked.

"Since, forever," Dom answered.

Letty giggled. "Only to the one dimensional mind," she muttered as she padded Dom's bare back as she left the bathroom.

Dom shivered at her soft touch. _What_ _the hell is wrong with me_, he thought. This was Letty, one of his best friends. He wasn't supposed to shiver at her touch, or drool over the way her legs radiated with beauty. And what made it worse was that she was two years younger than him. He tore himself from his reverie and returned to his room to get dressed for school. By the time he joined everyone in his father's carpool Chevelle he omitted his unexpected thoughts of Letty.

When they pulled up to the junior high, Letty and Mia's eyes widened at how different it was from elementary school. Aside from the fellow sixth graders, everyone else looked so much older, and mature. Guys were no longer considered young boys, and the girls wore make up, fixed their hair like supermodels, and wore tighter, more revealing clothes.

"Trust me; you guys are going to love junior high. It's so much better than elementary school," Dom told the girls.

"Yeah, and the girls are smoking," Vince added.

Mia rolled her eyes, "We're not into girls V."

Letty laughed at Vince's comical statements. "So, where do we get our class schedules?"

"Office, let's go," Dom said as he led the way and held the door open for Mia and Letty.

"Sweet, I got a car shop class. How is it?" Letty asked excitedly.

"It's cool, but you should ask for advance shop. You're ahead of the basics," Vince stated.

Letty nodded in agreement. "Cool, I think I will."

"What up, Vince, Dom," a bald headed guy yelled from across the court yard.

Dom and Vince both acknowledged him with a nod of their head. "Come on, let's go."

All four of them approached a group of eighth-grade boys. "What's up Hector? How'd the summer go?" Dom asked.

"Pretty good. I spent most of it with my older cousin Phillip. He's a junior in high school, drag races on the weekends. You guys gotta come check it out sometime. It's a crazy scene."

"Really? Drag racing? I'm down," Dom said enthusiastically. An underground, exclusive, racing scene intrigued him and Vince – even sparked Letty's curiosity.

"So who are the cute looking chica's behind you?" Hector asked curiously.

"My _sister_, Mia, and our good friend Letty, she's a car guru," Dom answered his tone ready to get defensive.

"Oh, my bad," Hector said apologetically, "nice to meet you girls."

Letty and Mia gave him a faint smile. They both wondered when Vince and Dom became friends with him.

"So you're into cars, Letty. That's cool. You should sit with us at lunch, I'm curious to see how much you know," Hector said as he eyed her up and down.

"Yeah, I know a little bit," Letty said modestly.

Before Dom could interject and give Hector a pep talk about flirting with Letty, someone else did it for him.

"Hey Dom," a soft spoken, female voice interrupted. She gracefully placed one hand behind his neck and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. She smiled broadly, "I missed you all summer."

Dom licked his lips. "Hey Nicole, good to see you too," he said as his eyes traveled over her developing body.

Letty quirked her eyebrow at the scene in front of her. Apparently Dom and Vince had slightly evolved. The days of cooties were obviously put behind them. Now, here they were, as growing eighth-graders, marveling over the opposite sex like a delicious steak. She wondered if the exact same thing was happening to her; discovering new feelings for the opposite sex. Or was it just for Dom?

"Letty, let's go and find better company. I'm already growing sick of this scene," Mia said, breaking Letty from her thoughts.

"Great idea," Letty agreed. They walked away examining each other's schedule's to see if they shared any classes together. As fate would have it, they were identical, expect their last class, which had Mia in home economics and Letty in shop class. They met up with familiar faces from last year's class at some lunch tables and began commiserating.

The first bell rang causing all the newbies to disperse, in fear of getting in trouble for being late on their first day.

Mia and Letty walked side by side throughout the outdoor hallways towards their first math class. As they turned the corner to one of the buildings, they spotted Dom and that girl Nicole making out against the wall.

Letty felt heat rise inside her. She didn't exactly know why, but she felt a pang of jealousy. This was the first she had seen him being affectionate with another girl and she didn't like it. She tried to keep her composed and a straight, non-emotional face, as they came within closer proximity.

"Save some of her face for later," Letty commented, hoping that her comment sounded like teasing than jealously.

Dom quickly pulled away from Nicole and shook his head in amusement at Letty's comment. She forced a teasing smile in response.

"Or get a room," Mia added, as her and Letty giggled their way to their classroom.

Nicole sneered at them and attempted to pick up where she left off, but Dom pulled her hands away.

"Come, let's go. I'll walk you to your class," Dom said as he placed his arm over her shoulder.

"We can be a little late. It's just the first day," she pleaded.

"My first period is advance shop. There's no way I'm gonna be late for that class," Dom explained.

"So, you're saying cars trump me?" She asked incredulously.

"Well, yeah," Dom admitted.

Nicole removed his arm from her should and pushed him back. "Jackass."

Dom shook his head. _Smooth move_, he thought. Even though he was sorry for hurting her feelings, it was true; nothing came in between him and his passion for cars. "Oh well, at least I was honest," he muttered to himself.

He trudged down the cemented walkway and made a quit pit stop to the classroom Letty and Mia entered.

"Pssst," he whispered out to Mia.

She turned around to face her brother. "What do you want?"

"Quick pep talk," he began, "look, if any-"

"Yes, I know Dom. 'If anyone bothers me or Letty tell you and you'll take care of it.' Yes, I know the drill," She said annoyed.

"No, this one is different. If any guys try to hit on you, I'm gonna beat the crap outta them. So stay clear of these horndogs." Dom explained.

She rolled her eyes and returned chatting to her friends.

Dom was about to leave when his eyes caught sight of Letty in the desk beside Mia. She was talking to the boy sitting in front her, making her smile, and laugh. For some reason he didn't like it. Seeing another guy making her smile and laugh made him jealous. Before anyone could notice him staring at Letty, he quickly averted his attention back to Mia.

"Make sure to tell Letty, too," he demanded, as he glared at the young guy entertaining her.

Mia glared at her overprotective brother. "Okay, now leave!" she grunted out angrily. He was embarrassing her and scaring off potential dates.

Dom left and jogged to his shop class and joined Hector and Vince's group. He was delighted when the teacher wasted no time in getting right down to work. Throughout his whole period Hector informed them about his experience at the late night racing scene. From the details of eccentric cars, adrenaline from just being a bystander, and the women who peppered the scene fully enthralled Dom and Vince.

"You guys should come out with me and my cousin this Friday night to the race scene," Hector offered.

"Man, from what you told us, we're definitely gonna be there," Vince stated.

By the time lunch rolled around Dom found another female companion to fondle with. She was petite, Asian, stunning face, very straight forward about flirting and public affection. They joined Vince, Hector, and a couple other buddies at their usual outdoor lunch table.

"What up, Dom? Where's your homegirl, Letty at?" Hector asked. "I'm curious to see how much she knows about cars."

Dom tensed up at Hector's question. He now regretted introducing him to her. There was something in his eyes that hinted he wanted to do more than just talk. From the way he was eyeing her up down this morning, he guessed he just wanted to enjoy the view of the new "freshmen" meat.

"I dunno, man. But, just take my word for it, she knows her stuff," Dom answered quickly. "So V, you got enough food there to feed an army. Hook it up, bro," he stated, trying to take the subject away from Letty.

Vince sighed. "I guess I'll hook you up with a cheeseburger," he said as he tossed one over to Dom.

Dom's female companion cleared her throat and gave him a look.

"Oh yeah, guys, this is Rachelle," Dom announced. He wasn't the greatest at displaying good manners, but in reality he didn't see the point in introducing any of the girls he hooked up with. They were all for the moment. As crude as it sounded, that's exactly what it was. He wasn't looking for a committed relationship, he was young, and liked his freedom and variety in girls.

She smiled sweetly and said hello.

"You want a cheeseburger?" Vince offered.

She crinkled her nose in disgust. "No thanks. I only eat salads."

Vince looked at her incredulously, as if to say "how dare you refuse this delectable burger." He shook his head in dismay and continued to devour his lunch.

As Dom chewed a piece of his succulent cheeseburger, his eyes roamed around the courtyard of lunch tables and caught sight of Letty. She was sitting with a group of guys – sixth graders – laughing and eating just as much as the guys'. Among them was the same guy who was making her laugh and smile carelessly this morning. He found himself feeling jealous again, so much so, he slightly tensed up. Letty had been in quite the slump in the past month, but you would never suspect so with the way this new guy was making her smile.

"Dom, I'm gonna go catch up with a few of girlfriends. You wanna hang out after school?" Rachelle asked in a seductive tone.

Dom reluctantly tore his eyes from Letty. "Huh? Yeah, yeah, sounds good."

She smiled. "Great," she said and gave him one hell of a kiss before walking away.

"Damn," Vince and Hector said in union. "That girl don't hold back," Hector added.

"Yeah, she's one hell of a kisser," Dom stated proudly.

When he turned his gaze back to the area Letty was sitting at she was no longer there. Instead, she was throwing the contents left on her lunch tray and walking towards their table. She was bold. She was the first sixth grader to walk into eighth grade territory without a pass. Letty ignored the puzzled looks that read "Who does this kid think she is?" and trekked toward their table dauntlessly.

"Letty," Vince greeted, "want a cheeseburger?"

Letty belched loudly. "Nah, V. I'm good. I just ate two; my beast is satisfied for now."

"Ah, Lightweight," Vince said shaking head.

Letty laughed. "V, you're always hungry. Sorry, that I don't have four stomachs like you do."

Dom and Hector laughed. It was true, Vince could hoover down an insane amount of food without ever showing signs that he was full. It was quite the gift that always amazed them.

When the laughter and playful banter settled Hector turned his attention to Letty. His eyes told Dom he was admiring her slowly developing body, and he didn't like it.

"So," Hector began.

"So, you already got a bf Let. You work fast," Dom interrupted.

Letty arched one eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"The dude that was flirting with you this morning in your class," Dom answered.

"Are you spying on me? I'm not your sister, Dom. And I don't work as fast as you. Tonguing two girls in a span of four hours. Didn't know you became such a man whore." Letty said defensively. _So promiscuous girls are his motivation for coming to school. How sad, _she thought.

Dom snorted and lied through his teeth. "The last thing I would do is spy on you. I stopped by to talk to Mia. And Letty, don't hate the player, hate the game," he added pompously.

Letty rolled her eyes at the ridiculous statement. "Right, whatever you say 'playa'. And Edwin, he's just a class clown, good company, keeps you laughing. He's into cars too, not the right ones, but cars nonetheless. And it's not like I have my tongue in his ear."

Before Dom could further press for information on this new guy, Edwin, Hector immediately jumped into the conversation and bombarded her with car questions. As Dom promised, Letty proved to be a formidable guru on cars and their engines. He was intrigued and utterly blown away that someone – and a girl at that – possessed such a passion and knowledge for cars. Throughout their conversation Hector's eyes would steal quick glances to Letty's chest, and when he'd get caught, he settled on the sorry excuse that he was just admiring her dog tags.

Dom shook his head in dismay. He made a mental note to keep an eye out for Hector around Letty as he invited her to races on Friday night.

As Dom stood up from the lunch table the force of someone's fist sent him staggering to the ground.

"You fucking punk, Toretto. Stay away from my sister," Johnny yelled in rage as he jumped on top of Dom to deliver another blow to his face.

Dom easily reversed their roles and was now on top of Tran, landing forceful blows to his face.

Hector and Vince watched proudly as Dom was kicking Johnny's ass. Letty, however, was far from amused. She wondered when this pointless feud was going to end. It just made no sense to her.

As the fight intensified, more students gathered around to chant the familiar mantra of "fight" in unison.

The minute Johnny's friends jumped on Dom's back, Hector and Vince joined in on the brawl. Even though Letty was opposed to meaningless fights, she believed in fair fighting and decked Lance in his jaw as he attempted to double team Dom. Before he could even fathom what happened to him, monstrous security came and separated everyone. In a matter of minutes, they were standing in the familiar stomping grounds of the principal's office.

It was no surprise that Johnny and his cousin only suffered two weeks detention. Dom, Vince, and Letty not only received detention but the dreaded call home to their parents. The principal knew about Vince's situation with his mother, and knew to contact Mr. Toretto instead. When he arrived the smiles of a battle won were quickly erased from their faces. They could clearly tell he was exasperated.

"You kids," Mr. T breathed out in frustration. "Fighting isn't going to solve anything. I'm sick of coming down here. You know how this makes me look? It makes me look like I haven't raised my children right," he said as he glared at Dom and Vince through the rearview mirror.

"Sorry," they mutter out remorsefully. They hated upsetting him like this.

When they reached the garage he assigned Vince and Dom to neatly stack the countless number of tires outback. They groaned at just the thought of the mess back there, and working in the scorching heat.

"Letty, you can have a seat, or relax in the office until your mom comes by," Mr. T said in a lighter tone.

"If it's alright with you, I'd rather help out and get my hands dirty," Letty stated.

Dom smiled hearing those words. She was the only girl he knew that didn't complain about chipping the polish of their newly painted nails. She wasn't afraid of getting a little engine grease underneath her nails. He admired her for that. He thought it was cool as he watched her dive right into to helping his dad replace piston rings.

While Letty helped Mr. T with his car repairs she caught a glimpse of Dom outback. He had taken off his shirt and Letty could not help and stare at his bare skin. She watched him intently, admiring the way his skin glistened from the beads of sweat that formed on his body. Her breath caught in throat as she saw his muscles flex from carrying tires. What was happening to her? She wasn't the type to get all gooey eyed over a guy. Muscles and good looks didn't impress her or even get her attention – but Dom's sure were, and she hated it. What made it worse was having to see other girls freely touch him, and claim his lips as they pleased.

Those thoughts stayed with her throughout the day. Even through a lecture from her mother, and followed her to bed. Sleep did not come easy, and when it did she slept sporadically until morning. Letty sighed. _Damn it Dom, what are you doing to me? _She asked herself.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Fast and The Furious or its characters. No copyright infringement intended. This fictitious work is for entertainment purposes only.

**Author's Note:** This chapter runs a little long. I was tweaking it and got carried away, and couldn't stop writing, but hopefully it's still good. And I would like to thank those who have continuously reviewed each chapter. The feedback is much appreciated and is the fuel that keeps this fic alive, so thanks, and I hope you continue to.

* * *

Letty woke from her restless slumber feeling angry at her brain. Throughout the night it periodically flustered her body's equilibrium with thoughts of Dom. She hated these foreign feelings because she didn't quite understand them, or why they abruptly intensified. Seeing his arms and tongue entwined with other girls only sparked more curious, overly-friendly thoughts of him. She breathed heavily at not being able to discard them and forced her eyes to adjust on the clock sitting on her nightstand. 7:45AM. Letty closed her eyes only to open then with a start and quickly sit upright.

She was late for school. "Shit," she breathed out.

Letty ran downstairs to bombard her mother with questions of "Why didn't you wake me up?" She was already in hot water with the principal; the last thing she need was the school breathing down her neck for showing up late – or worse her mother. Before her lips could utter any questions her mother answered for her.

"You don't have school today," she announced without looking up from the morning newspaper.

"Oh," Letty said hesitantly.

"Yeah, the office called this morning and said they added a three day suspension to your punishment," she added.

Letty winced. She knew her mother's cool, calm, and collected demeanor would soon dissipate.

"Ma-"she began.

Her mother swiftly folded the newspaper and slammed it on the table, causing Letty to flinch. "No, I don't wanna hear your excuses, Leticia. I didn't raise you to misbehave like this, to fight with people at school. You better get your act together, and soon."

Letty remained silent as her mother unleashed her frustration and disappointment. It was in moments like this where she missed her father. Before Los Angeles, she could always count on him to swoop in and save her from any disciplinary action from her mother. No matter how guilty Letty was, her father always took her side and defended her like she was exempt from doing any wrong. He understood his daughter more than anything else in the world. Her motto as a child was "when mommy says no, daddy says yes." If her father were here, he wouldn't be grounding her, but saying, "That's my girl" and showing her further techniques on how to physically defend herself in a fight.

A broad sweet smile spread across Letty's face as she remembered the good old days that included her father.

"Leticia, this is not funny!" Her mother scolded.

"Sorry," Letty muttered, trying to turn the corners of her mouth back down.

"Since you think this is so funny, you're grounded, and no more going to Anthony's car garage."

Letty threw her hands up. "Are you kidding me? For how long?" She questioned.

"Until I say so," she said sternly. "And remember that I said you're grounded, so you better not set foot outside this house while I'm gone." She ignored Letty's pleas and heavy sighs as she gathered her things and headed out the door to work.

Letty plopped down on one of the kitchen chairs and viciously bit into a pop tart. The garage was her sanctuary. Letty irrevocably loved that car shops were equipped with every tool imaginable and intricate, immaculate engine parts. Car garages were devoid of inoperable problems, for Letty it didn't get any better than that. She hated how her mother knew the exact things to take away to make her miserable. Sometimes she resented her mother for it. Letty could never understand why her mother never took to the time to hear side of things – like her father did – or why she never tried to look at things from her point of view. It was exhausting just thinking about it.

After her light breakfast Letty trudged upstairs for a quick shower. She tied her hair up into a loose bun and stepped under the warm spray of water, trying to wash away all her current frustrations. The warmth from the water was so relaxing she could have stayed in there all day. Enjoying the soothing aroma Letty reluctantly stepped out of the shower, wrapped a towel around her, and padded slowly across the bathroom tile and into her room.

As she opened the top drawer to retrieve a pair of cropped, grey sweatpants, her eyes peered out the window to find Dom and Vince hauling things out through the side door of their house. It made her happy to know she wasn't the only one who got suspended from school. And knowing they would never lift a finger to clean, she could tell Anthony enforced his own punished on them as well.

Lettly quickly put on the necessary undergarments, slipped into her cropped sweats and black tank top. She made her way back downstairs and trekked across the linoleum floor of the kitchen to get a bag of cheddar cheese popcorn. On her way out the front door she slipped on a worn out pair of white flip flops and walked over to the Torettos.

Vince dropped one of the dust covered boxes onto the ground and looked up to see who the nearing footsteps belonged to. "What's up Letty? I see you got suspended too."

"Yep, and I see you too have started a maid cleaning service," She replied with a smirk on her face.

Dom emerged from the side door and gave Letty the middle finger. "You get off easy or what?" He asked.

"I wish. My mom grounded me, and she said I'm not allowed at DT until 'she says so'," She answered shaking her head.

"Our parents think alike, because I got the same punishment."

"What are you doing outside if you're grounded," Vince asked. "You know you're mom is gonna find out you came over here."

Letty shrugged her shoulders. She didn't really care. "Eh, the way I see it as long as my feet stay 'grounded' I'm good. See," she said as she padded her feet on the ground," they're grounded."

Vince laughed. "You're such a smart ass Letty. I think that's why we get along so well."

Dom shook his head in amusement. "Letty, you're always breaking the rules, aren't you?"

"Me? Never. I simply bend the rules without breaking them. It's a gift really," She explained.

"You're a wild one Let," Dom said through his laughter.

"Yeah, so where's Mia?"

"At school, like a goodie-good. Mia would flip out if she missed a day of school," Vince answered.

"Yeah, that's true, she would. So what are you guys doing with all this stuff?" She asked as she ripped open her bag of popcorn.

Dom sighed heavily. "As punishment my dad has us cleaning out the basement."

Letty walked over and peeked through the open side door. She whistled. "Good luck with clearing that stuff out. It's gonna take days."

"Thanks for the reminding us," Vince grunted out.

"You could be a good ol' pal and help out us. We'll get done faster," Dom suggested.

Letty arched one eyebrow at Dom. "Ha. I'll help by supervising, but no way am I cleaning up that mess."

Dom lightly nudged Letty on her side before entering the basement to retrieve more dust covered boxes and moth eaten furniture. "You suck," he whispered under his breath.

Letty giggled in response and walked over to sit on an old coffee table.

"Well if you aint gonna help then at least share your snacks," Vince stated as he snatched Letty's popcorn and poured some in his mouth. He handed her back the bag and returned to helping Dom clear out the basement.

"Fat ass," Letty yelled at Vince as she looked at her half eaten bag.

Dom eventually convinced Letty to help out by pulling the best friend and family card. At least to his knowledge, but the real reason for agreeing was his persuasive tone that seemed to vibrate from his chest. Dom's voice was somewhat changing, sounding slightly more baritone, and Letty immediately took notice. There were certain words or times when his tone would change causing her spine to shudder pleasantly. It was a sound that made all girls go weak.

A third set of hands definitely helped Dom and Vince. It moved things along and added to the playful banter. Much to their delight, the clutter that occupied the basement seemed to evaporate at a faster pace. Soon after, they started an assembly line; Dom brought out the boxes, Letty sorted junk from valuables, and Vince tossed the trash in the garbage. They finally finished by early afternoon and flopped down on the porch bench.

"Man, we should call the child labor board on my dad," Dom said as he wiped sweat from his forehead.

"You both should take a shower, you stink," Letty blurted out as she crinkled her nose.

Vince snorted. "You don't smell any better."

"You smell like ass V. Seriously, smell your pit," Letty ordered. "Dom, you smell like a dirty puppy."

Dom took a whiff of his scent. "Smells like roses to me," he said sarcastically.

Vince smelled his underarm and winced in pain. "Well I'll be damned. I do. Yo, bro, I think I am gonna go shower."

Dom nodded, "Alright."

"Yes, please," Letty added as she unfolded the bag to her popcorn.

With more room left on the bench Dom scooted away from Letty towards the end, to slightly extend his sore legs.

"You gonna quit being greedy and share your food," Dom asked. "I did put in a lot of work today."

Letty rolled her eyes and tossed him the bag. He unwrinkled the plastic and tossed one at a time in the air, catching them with his mouth. "Bet you can't do that."

"Hand the bag over. Let me show you how a pro does it," Letty said unimpressed by his antics. This was one thing she loved about their friendship; they always challenged each other in everything.

Letty tossed three pieces of popcorn in the air and caught them effortlessly. She then handed Dom the bag for him to try and match it – and of course he failed.

"Ha," Letty teased in victory.

"Eh, whatever," Dom shrugged it off like it was no big deal. "Let's see you catch these." Dom grabbed a handful of popcorn and tossed them at her face.

"Sore loser," Letty yelled out through her laughter and she lunged at Dom, attempting to pour out the entire bag on his head.

"Dang, you guys treat food with such disrespect," Vince sighed out in disbelief. "Look at this, letting it fall to the ground. Anyway, I'm gonna head home and get some clean clothes. I'll be back in a few."

"V, you should just bring all shit over here, it's not like you're mom notices you're gone," Dom suggested.

"I think I will. I'll see you guys later," Vince walked down the porch steps waving bye.

"You know Letty, popcorn covered hair isn't really you thing," Dom said as he scooted closer to her and began pick the pieces that got stuck to her hair.

Letty forced herself to stay completely still and hide any sort of emotion that would show she was swooning over him. When her hair was ridden of popcorn, Dom brushed away a stray piece of hair behind her ear. For a brief moment their eyes locked and Letty marveled at how soft and caring Dom's eyes could be – especially for someone who was considered such a tough guy. Dom slightly paused, and took notice at how Letty expressed and conveyed so much emotion through her eyes. He couldn't understand her those emotions, what was it? It appeared to be a cross between admiration and confusion, but he wasn't quite sure. When he realized he was staring like a dumbstruck fool he scooted away.

"Letty," Dom began, "did you brush your teeth today?"

Letty looked at him incredulously and punched his arm. "You're a jerk."

Dom burst into laughter while Letty rolled her eyes. Count on Dom to ruin perfect, small, moments. His laughter quickly came to a halt when he heard the familiar sound of his father's Chevelle engine.

"Oh shit, it's my dad. Letty, hide somewhere. You know you're mom is gonna have him check to if you're outside."

Without further debate, Letty scurried away alongside the house behind some bushes, as Anthony neared the driveway.

"I see you cleared out everything in the basement, good. Now you can sweep all the dirt, dust, and neatly put this stuff back in," His father ordered.

"Today?" Dom asked, hoping he'd say no.

"Of course today. You're not going to just leave this these boxes furniture in the drive way are you?"

Dom sighed in frustration and thought that maybe the fight with Tran wasn't worth it after all. Maybe looking like a punk was better than being put through all this labor work. "No."

His father nodded and turned to go inside to make lunch, but stopped. "Oh, and Letty, your mother is working a double shift, so you're staying here tonight," he said without turning his head to face the bushes. He smiled and shook his head at the young whippersnappers these days, and how they thought they were so slick. They always seem to forget that their parents were once young, mischievous kids too. "I'll have lunch ready in ten," he added before disappearing inside.

Letty emerged from behind the bushes, her mouth agape. There was no way that he could have seen her. She was convinced he possessed supernatural powers. "Man, how does your dad do that?"

Dom, with the same agape mouth answered, "I have no idea. He's been doing it for years and it amazes me every time."

"I'm gonna go shower, get some clothes, and lock up the house. Tell your dad I'll be right back." Letty turned and started walking back to her house, she turned her head back and yelled, "Oh and you should shower too, you're starting to smell worse than Vince."

Dom laughed and trekked inside his house to wash up for lunch.

Letty packed quickly, locked all the windows and doors and ventured back to Dom's house, where she met Vince carrying a similar duffle bag.

"You moving in too, Letty?" He asked. "This is going to be fun."

"Just for the night V, don't get too excited." Letty answered as she walked inside and joined Dom and Anthony in the kitchen.

Vince took a seat beside Letty as they joined Dom and his father for some macaroni and cheese with pancetta. They ate silently, afraid that anything they said would further increase their punishment, or anger Mr. T more than he already was. The only thing that broke their silent was Vince's farting. Dom, Letty, even Anthony burst out laughing.

Vince's cheeks turned bright red. Under normal circumstances he would be proud and say something like "ahh smells like roses" but that was in front of friends, not father figures like Mr. T.

"Sorry, I had a lot cheese today," Vince said bashfully.

"You have a lot of everything, V," Letty said through a slew of uncontrollable giggles.

"Ah, you kids," Mr. T. smiled. He set down his fork and looked at the three of them. "Look, I'm not mad; I just want you kids to think rationally. Feuds like one with the Trans are no good, trust me, I know. Now, let's try and avoid them as best we can. Okay?"

They all nodded in agreement.

"Okay, I gotta go and pick up the other good child of the bunch," he said winking at Letty.

Dom and Vince both snorted as Anthony left to pick up Mia.

"So, since we're all grounded, how are we going to go out with Hector Friday night?" Letty asked as she licked the cheese off her bowl.

"Yeah, bro, what are we gonna do?" Vince turned to Dom. "I really wanna go and see what this is all about."

Dom pondered for a few moments. He wanted to go just as bad as they did, but he also didn't want to get caught sneaking out and disappoint or anger is father further. He looked from down at his empty plate and thought intently. Finally after a few moments he snapped his fingers. "We gotta get Mia in on this."

Vince quirked his eyebrows, "Mia?"

"Yeah, she can lie for us or something," Dom explained.

Letty shook her head. "You really think Mia is going to stay home and lie for you? You're outta you're mind. She's gonna wanna come. So you might as well dump that idea."

Dom knew Letty was right. His sister was born nosey and would give them hell for not including her on their little endeavors. Even though she was petite, an soft spoken, she possessed quite a frightful wrath.

"Well, maybe if we get on my dad's good graces these next two days he'll forget about grounding us. We can say that Hector is having a 'back to school party' for the kids at school. Sneak Letty and Mia out and really go to these races."

"Sounds good to me," Vince said.

"That sounds like a plan with a lot of holes in it. Are you sure about this?" Letty asked skeptically.

"Yes, I am sure. Let's just pray your mom is working a double shift that night, that way it'll be easier to sneak you out if you're here." Dom did his best to reassure.

"Okay."

For the rest of the afternoon they swept the basement, dusted and cleaned the furniture, and neatly stacked the boxes with important stuff. When they repositioned the last piece of furniture they flopped down on the nearest sofa and chair. They were exhausted, tired, and ready to pass out on a moment's notice.

"Hey guys," Mia cheerfully greeted them as she entered the basement," this place looks great. It can be a nice chill spot."

"Yeah," Dom said, exhaustion permeating his voice. "And Mia, you're too hype, tone it down a bit."

She ignored her brother's comment and took a seat next to Letty. "I took notes, and wrote down all the homework assignments so you won't fall behind. We can do them tonight and I'll turn yours in tomorrow."

Letty gave her a weak smile. "Thanks, girl. What would we do without you?"

"Edwin was asking for you," She blurted out.

Dom's ear's immediately perked up. "Dang, is he whooped already? What'd you do to him, Letty?"

Letty snorted. "None of the nasty shit you do to random girls."

"Right, so what did he want, Mia?" Dom interrogated.

Letty's face formed an expression of confusion. Why in the world was Dom so interested in the guy she talked to? She suddenly got butterflies at the possibility of Dom being jealous, or even better, actually taking a liking to her.

"Why do you care so much?" Mia questioned.

"I really don't, if this was any other chick I wouldn't care, but this is Letty, she's not just any other chick" he said pointing. She fought back her smiling at Dom considering her something more, "she's part of our family, and we look out for each other. I don't want some pervert trying to take advantage of someone I consider my sister," Dom explained.

And with that statement Letty's butterflies lost their wings. _Great, he thinks of me as his little sister_, she thought. It annoyed her beyond belief.

What Letty didn't know, was that calling her his sister made him wince inside. Sure he considered Vince his brother, but Letty was nowhere near little sister status, she was his best friend, one of very few people who understood him. Possibly the only person who really saw the true Dominic Toretto. He couldn't blurt out that it made him a little jealous that guys' were paying attention to Letty and her looks, so he lied and came up with bullshit answer to cover it up.

"Anyways," Mia said, directing her attention to Letty, "he just said what's up, and that you pack the biggest right hook he's ever seen in a girl."

Letty smiled and stood from the sofa. "Thanks for telling me, I'll see Edwin this Friday," Letty smirked as she passed Dom and joined Mia upstairs in her room.

For the rest of the day Letty rested from her day's work, hung out with Mia –who helped with their homework assignments – and watched movies until Mr. T came home. They all remembered their plan to get on his good graces so they had dinner ready, the rest of the house spotless, and garbage already taken out. He was quite impressed.

The next day when Letty trotted over to her house, she cleaned up a bit, and even made her mom some pancakes. If sucking up was working with Mr. T, then Letty figured she would try it out on her mother as well. She even managed to utter the most sincere apology her brain could formulate. When all three of them were alone, they laughed at the lengths they went to just to be around cars. And it worked, because by Thursday, Anna, and Anthony, allowed them back at DT.

However, much to their dismay – but to Letty's delight – Dom and Vince were put back on the duty of sorting and stacking tires. Letty was the only one who got to dive right in and help out around the garage. As usual she kept sneaking glances at Dom and the way his slightly toned muscles tightened and then relaxed. It was pleasurably hypnotizing. This time, however, Letty wasn't so careful. As she was helping Anthony change some brake pads, she found herself dropping tools, or giving delayed responses. Of course, Anthony took notice, simply grinned, and pretended he didn't see a love struck, Letty. He knew Dom held Letty's attention but never commented on it. He was convinced that in time, they'd mature, stop dancing around each other, and realize their feelings to each other. In the mean time, he thought they should both enjoy being young.

Late afternoon approached, and Mia joined everyone at the garage, but it didn't take long for them to venture over to Toretto café for a bite to eat. They each took a seat on the available stools. Dom and Vince ordered turkey sandwiches, while Mia and Letty caught up on the final batch of their homework for the week. After tending to their growling stomach's they filled Mia in on their plans for Friday night and how to sneak Letty and her out. As they were going over a few details new customers entered the café. It was one of Dom's girls, Nicole.

She wore a light pink baby doll top, with a short jean skirt that made Dom and Vince drool like dogs.

Dom rubbed his chin. "Hey, Nicole. You still mad at me?" He asked with puppy dog eyes.

She tried to ignore and walk past him, but he gently reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her in between his legs. He gently massaged the sides of her arms and shot her a sweet smile. All Letty could do was roll her eyes at how easy these girls gave in.

"You forgive me, right?" He said in that charming voice of his, "How about I make it up to you."

She smiled sweetly and nodded her head. Dom brought his lips to her ear and began whispering something that made her giggle carelessly. Again, she nodded and planted a soft supple kiss on his lips before finding her older sister. Letty simply cringed at their antics and Dom's charade to get into the girl's pants. _How dumb can this broad be_, she thought. If that didn't disgust Letty enough, as Nicole was leaving she winked at Dom, and mouthed the words "see you soon."

"Dang, Dom, you got that girl wrapped around your finger," Vince said in admiration.

Dom only grinned as he downed the last of his soda. "Let's head back to the garage, and head home." he suggested.

"Why? Don't wanna be late for your cheap lay," Letty shot out.

Dom belched in her face. "Exacty."

Letty shoved him in the chest and walked ahead of the boys with Mia. When they reached the garage Dom convinced his dad to have one of the mechanics to drive them home a little early. Before they reached the Toretto house, Letty noticed the same black car dropping Nicole off at their house. Rolling her eyes, she asked the young mechanic to drop her off at her own house. She couldn't stomach the thought of Dom doing more than kissing girls. She quickly climbed out of the car and and utter a quick "see ya later" to them.

She did her best to avoid looking over at Dom's house but couldn't resist. Her eyes caught sight of Dom and Nicole, arms entwined heading into the side door of the basement, while Vince and Mia headed through the front door. Letty inhaled sharply and tore her eyes from their house. She gathered the day's mail from the mailbox and made her way inside.

What better to comfort than delectable food. Letty trekked into the kitchen and began assembling a massive ice cream sundae. When she dropped a cherry on top – completing the sundae – she entered the living room, propped up her legs on the coffee table, and started to watch her favorite horror move, Halloween. She was simply enamored by everything in the film, from the eerie music that gave her goose bumps to the creepy mask Michael Meyer's wears.

About twenty minutes into the movie Letty's eyes glanced down at the small pile of envelopes she brought in earlier. One in particular caught her attention, or rather the handwriting – it belonged to her father. Letty practically tossed her ice cream bowl on the coffee table and grabbed the letter swiftly. She marveled at it for a few seconds, this was the first time he wrote her since reporting for his military duty. She carefully opened it and unfolded the piece of paper delicately as if it were fine expensive crystal. Letty was so anxious to read his words that she failed to see the stack of hundred dollar bills that fell gracefully into her lap. She read each word carefully and intently, cherishing them as she placed them in her heart. When she finished reading, she scooped up the money her father sent her to save up for her dream car; her beloved Nissan 240 SX.

Letty was ecstatic to learn of her father's whereabouts, his promise to call soon, and even visit in the months to come. She tucked her money inside her sock, held her father's letter close to her heart, and decided she needed to tell someone, to share her excitement. Only one person came to mind. It was Dom. These were the type of things they shared to each other first, before anyone else. And without thinking, Letty jetted out of her house and down the street to Dom's house. Completely forgetting about Dom and his "date", she reached the door knob that belonged to the closest door, an action she would soon come to regret.

The side door leading into the basement flung open swiftly. "Dom, you won't believe this but-"

Letty was silenced by the sight her eyes were bearing. In what appeared to be lightening speed, Dom jumped off of the half naked Nicole and pulled up his boxers and jeans.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Fast and The Furious or its characters. No copyright infringement intended. This fictitious work is for entertainment purposes only.

**Author's Note:** Sorry it took so long to update, I've been working on other fics in and outside this fandom. My apologies, and chapter six is on the way. Let me know what you think. :)

* * *

Dom was nervous and excited all at the same time as he was about to attempt to have sex for the first time. The most he had ever done was make out with a girl, and that started in the seventh grade. Now in the eighth grade his mind was getting a little more curious. Kissing continued but now the girls allowed his hands to wander, and with his new discoveries he decided he'd make the leap and try to push the envelope. Plus, from the numerous stories he heard through the grapevine about his fellow classmates, he felt he was falling behind on cashing in his virgin card.

After unbuckling his belt, Dom slid down his pants – taking his boxers with him – and slowly inched his way closer to Nicole. Anxiety mixed with pleasurable adrenaline started to pump through his body. _This is it_, he thought. Before any further movements could occur the side door to the basement flung open swiftly.

"Dom, you won't believe this but-"Letty yelled but her voice quickly came to a halt.

Within a matter of seconds Dom had his pants zipped up and quickly tossed Nicole her garments.

"Letty-"Dom began.

"Sorry-I-uh-sorry," Letty uttered out before closing the door.

"Wait, Letty," Dom yelled after her, but by the time he reached the door and peered outside, Letty was walking up the porch steps to her house. "Damn it," he whispered under his breath.

He turned around and made his way to Nicole. "Your sister's friend has really good timing. What did she want anyways?"

"I dunno, but how far do you live from here?" He asked quickly.

"Far, why? You kicking me out?"

Dom sighed heavily. "Look, let's go inside so you can call your sister to come pick you up. My dad is gonna be getting home soon."

Nicole shook her head and pouted. "Fine."

Dom led the way to the house phone and flopped down on the sofa, periodically looking out the window for any signs of Letty. He wasn't quite sure why he tried to run after her, but he felt a need to explain, and even say sorry. Sorry for what? He didn't know. He was so deep in thought he didn't even notice Nicole had taken a seat next him. He tuned her voice out and remained focused on what Letty had just walked in on. Initially he didn't care that Letty thought of him as a player, but now that she had witnessed him in full on "action" he did care. What if she looked up to him? What if she saw him as role model? Those thoughts were never prominent in Dom's mind until now. The thought of Letty following in his footsteps but with guys made his stomach churn. He needed to speak to her, now.

Fifteen minutes of silence elapsed and Dom was growing impatient with Nicole's sister. How far did she live? He thought. He wanted to go over Letty's house already, but then again, he didn't want to be rude. After another ten minutes passed a horn of a car outside his house sounded off. _Finally,_ he thought. He rose to his feet and was practically pushing Nicole out of the door. He uttered goodbye quickly and mumbled a see ya at school in there too, before jogging down to Letty's house.

Her mother was home already so he knocked firmly and waited for someone to answer, hoping it would be Letty.

"Hi Dominic," Her mother greeted with a smile.

"Hi, Mrs. Ortiz. Is Letty home?" He asked eagerly.

"I just checked in on her, and she's asleep in her room. You guys have an exhausting day?"

Dom averted his eyes. "Yeah. Well, can you tell her I came by," he said.

"Of course. I'm sure she'll be heading over there in a little while," her mother assured him.

Dom nodded his head and turned to walk back to his house. He knew Letty wasn't asleep and she got her mom to lie for her. And if her mom wasn't in on it, then she was pretending to be sleeping. _Great, she avoiding me now,_ he thought. He decided he might as well do what Letty was pretending to do and get some rest. But that was quickly put on the back burner when he joined Vince and Mia on the super Nintendo. They played for hours until their father came home.

Like daddy's little girl, Mia left the room to greet her father, and help out with dinner – leaving Vince and Dom alone.

"So, how did things go with Nicole?" Vince asked with a devilish grin.

Dom face became disgusted. "Eh, didn't quite happen, V."

Vince furrowed his brow. "What happened? Got cold feet? Backed out?"

"Nah…Letty walked in on us," he admitted reluctantly, "but don't bring it up, V, please."

"Bro, do you not know how to use a lock? Has life taught you nothing?" Vince stated rhetorically.

Dom chuckled. He could always count on Vince and his comments to bring out some great laughs.

"Well, there's always next time," Vince assured him.

"I dunno if there's gonna be a next time, V. Maybe Letty walking in on me was a sign or something, to slow down," Dom explained.

Vince eyed Dom quizzically. "Bro, break it down, I'm not understanding."

"That girl Nicole, she was too easy, who knows who else she's been with. She didn't even seem nervous," He explained a little more thoroughly.

Vince nodded. "Oh, ok. I understand you've experiencing girly emotions."

Dom punched Vince in the arm. "You're an idiot, V."

Even though Vince joked around all the time, he knew Vince understood him. He just hoped he would keep his mouth shut.

After a couple minutes of playful wrestling moves on each other, they joined Mia and their dad downstairs for dinner.

"Where's Letty?" Mr. T asked as he began scooping food onto plates.

"She's not coming over tonight, said she's gonna have dinner with her mom tonight," Mia explained.

"How do you know?" Dom asked curiously.

"Because I just got done talking to her on the phone," Mia answered as she brought two plates to the table.

Dom didn't press the situation further and sat down and picked at his food first, which ultimately led to him saying grace. Dinner continued normally and occasionally Dom would look over at the empty chair that would typically be occupied by Letty. He couldn't shake his mind free of her and wondered what was going on in her mind – especially since she was avoiding him now. He couldn't really blame her; he would probably do the same thing.

After a night of a fun yet competitive game of monopoly – which ended in an argument over fishy trading – Dom's head finally touched base with his pillow. He fell asleep easily, thinking that he'd simply speak to Letty in the morning before school. However, when morning came, and it was time to leave for school, Letty was again a no show.

"Letty not going to school today or what?" He asked Mia as he slid into his father's Chevelle.

"Her mom has the day off and is driving her today," Mia answered, slightly annoyed.

"Oh," he said simply. Then it hit him, they were supposed to go out with Hector tonight, "Oh," he said with more emphasis.

The drive to school was a silent one. Each lost in their own thoughts. Vince and Mia were going over in their head on how they would sneak Letty out. Dom was flabbergasted that Letty went as far as riding to school in a different car. He decided he would simply confront her during their lunch break. _Damn, was it really that bad,_ he thought?

Vince and Dom made their way to their shop class, eager to get to work and see what they missed out on. To their dismay, it was devoid of any assignments or lesson plans. With it being the first week of school there was a mandatory pep rally for all to attend. Dom didn't give a shit about school spirit, but he hoped he'd get to see Letty.

"The day is already starting off wrong," Dom sighed in frustration.

Vince shrugged. "At least we get to see the cheerleaders."

As each prospective class squeezed into the auditorium Dom's eyes scanned the sea of kids for any signs of Letty. It was difficult because there was so many and he didn't even know what she was wearing today. One person he did spot was Nicole and he avoided her all together. He just wanted to forget that ever happened.

Once everyone was seated it was easier for Dom to search for her – because as usual everyone segregated and sat with their own grade.

His eyes wandered through the sea of sixth graders and found her easily. She was sitting next to Mia and that guy Edwin. She seemed unaffected, happy, like nothing was bothering her. Maybe it was he who was the only one bothered by what Letty walked in on. Maybe he was paranoid and reading too much into Letty actions; not coming over for dinner, or riding in the same car. Her eyes caught sight of him and she nodded her head in acknowledgment.

When the pep rally started he and Vince watched the cheerleaders cheer, dance, and perform other gymnastic moves. When that finished their attention to the stage was lost, and other events and speakers were subjected to their deaf ears. As the pep rally wrapped up the whole student body began commiserating. Dom even bumped into Edwin, and what started as interrogating turned into simple conversation. Letty was right, he was a real funny guy. He even chuckled to himself for thinking there was something going on with her and Edwin.

When lunch rolled around Dom and Vince sat with Hector to go over their plans to go check out the night's races.

"My cousin will pick you guys up on the corner of your block at nine," Hector told them.

"Alright. Sounds good, we'll be there," Dom assured him.

"Is Letty coming too?" Hector curiously asked.

"Maybe," Dom answered quickly, "don't know if we'll be able to sneak her out. She's only twelve remember."

"Yeah, well hope she comes. I know she'd appreciate a scene like that."

Dom didn't respond. He didn't like that Hector was taking such a liking to Letty. He felt a little offended because it sounded like he was more concerned if she was going to make an appearance than he and Vince.

When school let out Letty rode in Mr. T's Chevelle to DT. It was there that Dom finally was able to talk to her.

"Hey," Dom said softly as he took a seat on the swivel chair in the office.

Letty looked up from her car magazine, "Hey, what's up?"

"Not much. So, you still gonna try and sneak out with us tonight?" He asked, dancing around what he really wanted to talk about.

"Nah. Not this time. My mom has the day off. Maybe next time, who knows," she said flatly.

Dom just nodded and went silent until he finally got the courage to bring it up. "Look, Letty, about what you walked in on I'm-"

Letty sighed. "Yeah, sorry about that. I should learn how to knock. Don't worry I didn't see any……parts," her cheeks becoming flushed at just the thought.

Dom lightly chuckled. "Okay. Well, I just don't want things to be weird between us because of that."

"Things aren't weird between us. What would make you think that?" Letty cleared and asked quickly.

"Oh I dunno, skipping out on dinner last night, having your mom drive you to school in that slow car of hers. Come on, Let, I know you."

Letty closed her magazine and set tossed it beside her. "Okay, it was a little weird. It's just I didn't think that…" She paused, contemplating on whether she should continue.

"Didn't think……." Dom urged on.

"I just didn't think you and V were having……sex already," she admitted.

"Well, for the record, I still haven't. I highly doubt V has either. That was going to be my first time," Dom explained.

"Oh, Dom, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

Dom immediately interrupted. "Nah, don't even worry about it. I'm actually glad you walked in. With Nicole, I probably would have regretted it after. Besides, she wasn't even nervous or anything, who knows who else she's done it with."

Letty crinkled her nose in disgust at the last part. "Gross. Maybe you should get to know the chick first." She never thought about sex. The most she her mind traveled to with boys – beyond cars and sports – was hand holding, hugging, and simplistic kissing.

"That's not bad advice. I think that's just what I'm gonna do" Dom confessed.

"So, you better take notes tonight at this racing scene. I want details, lots and lots of details." Letty said, changing the subject.

Dom smiled. Things were already getting back to normal. "I will, I will."

Before Dom could ask her what she was so excited about yesterday his father interrupted.

"Dominic, I need your help over here," Anthony yelled from across the garage.

"I'll see you later Let," Dom said as he left Letty alone in the garage's office.

Right after Dom left, Mia waltzed right in with a broad sweet grin spread across her face. "I so heard every word you guys said."

"Geez, Mia, is there ever a time when you're not eavesdropping," Letty stated rhetorically.

Mia sighed and patted Letty's shoulder. "You poor thing. You must have been traumatized walking in on Dom and that thing having.....ugh."

Letty shook her head. "So, anyway, since my mom has the day off today, no races for me."

"Eh, oh well. I'll stay home with you. We can watch movies and pig out in front of the tv." Mia offered politely.

"Sounds like a plan, as long as we can throw in one horror movie," Letty said.

"Fine."

Mia continued to eye Letty as she picked up her magazine – the same smirk on her face when she walked in the office.

"What?" Letty asked with quirked eyebrows.

Mia giggled. "Letty, you have a thing for my brother, don't you?"

Letty instantly tensed up. She thought she hid her feelings and emotions quite well around Dom. She was slowly becoming flustered by her question, causing her cheeks to turn bright red. "What?-I-Uh-No-You're weird…..anyway."

"Uh,huh….I knew it. You have goo goo eyes for my brother. Awe, how cute," Mia squealed.

Letty rolled her eyes as she tried to relax in attempt to make her blushing dissipate. "Mia, you're wrong. I don't have any kind of thing for your brother. We're friends. Just best friends, that's it. You're delusional if you think otherwise."

"Right, because the way your face turned as red as a tomato, and the way you sputtered out a whole bunch of mumbo jumbo, didn't clarify it all. You're so right," She laughed sarcastically.

Letty shook her head and huffed out, "Whatever."

"It's okay, Let. Don't be embarrassed, I think he likes you too," Mia said with a gleeful smile as she left the office.

Hearing those words made Letty's heart skip a beat. _Dom, likes me?_ She thought. Just the other day he expressed that he thought of her as a sister. She wondered when the abrupt changed happened. It made her smile exuberantly. After his admission down in the basement the idea of Dom liking her more than a sister left her mind – but with Mia's statement – someone who studied everyone to the tee – she felt elated and brought her new hope. She decided she would pay careful attention while they spent time together. After all, he did just say he was going to lay low on the player role, and Letty wondered and hoped that she was the reason for this change.

As Letty wallowed in blissful happiness, Dom spent the afternoon helping his dad make minor tweaks to the Charger for tomorrow's race. The whole time he tried to convince his dad to let him go to this supposed "back to school party" Hector was having. As usual, his father was no fool and didn't take the bait. He firmly told Dom no without further discussion. Even though he didn't get his father's permission, Dom was going to sneak out of the house anyway. He knew his father would be asleep early and get all the rest he could for tomorrow's racing events. Dom thought he'd try the legit way first.

When Dom and his dad finished tinkering with the Charger's engine everyone dispersed home. Letty even stayed for dinner and a little while after to watch a movie. When it reached eight-thirty, she and Mia took it as their queue to head to her house, so Vince and Dom could make their way out to meet Hector and his older cousin.

As usual, Anthony headed to bed around 8:45, and told Dom and Vince not to stay up too late because they were heading out early to perform a couple of test runs before the track got too crowded. They nodded in unison and kept a well played poker face that showed no hints of mischief. When Dom heard the heavy snores of his father, he and Vince quickly trekked upstairs to his room where they changed into what they thought was appropriate attire for the evening. Before climbing out his bedroom window, Dom made sure to lock his bedroom door and turn on the TV. From the roof, he and Vince slid down the post to the porch, hopped down from the railing, and met Hector, and his cousin, Phillip, down the street.

"Good to see you guys," Hector said as Vince and Dom climbed into an electric blue Honda civic.

After introductions were made they drove off into the streets of LA. Hector's cousin, Phillip, was taking a route that was unfamiliar to Dom, which led them to a scene in between two abandoned buildings.

Dom and Vince's eyes widened like it was Christmas morning and the tree was surrounded by hundred of presents. The number of cars they saw amazed them. The trinkets they possessed had them in awe. Everything from the chic rims to the colorful glows coming from underneath the car fascinated them. Judging from the crowd, Dom guessed that he, Vince, and Hector were the only "kids" there. Everyone looked like they were at least seventeen and older. Vince noticed the age differences also. He noted as the girls got older, the more skin they revealed. Their articles of clothing got smaller, and covered less and less – something that delighted his eyes. Dom noticed this too, but his main focus was the cars. His brain was aching to know what was underneath the hoods of these immaculate looking machines. He was becoming antsy; he wanted to see exactly what these cars were capable of doing.

As more and more race cars flooded the scene, the commiserating halted as Phillip, and other top racers began discussing the night's events, and entry fees. The wads of money that were flashed fully enthralled Vince and Dom. They both knew in that instance they wanted to be a part of this scene as soon as possible. Even though Hector's cousin stack of money was moderately smaller than the older guys racing, it was still a nice amount of cash for a seventeen year old.

After negotiations were in order, racers, spectators, and groupies of the "sport" dispersed to their cars.

"Where we going?" Vince asked as he climbed in the back seat with Dom.

"We're gonna go race," Phillip told them.

"Why are leaving this spot?" Dom asked further.

"This is just the meeting spot. We race on the main streets." Phillip told them.

"With traffic in pursuit? Isn't that going to make it harder to race?" Dom questioned curiously.

Phillip chuckled. "You ask a lot of questions. Just be patient, you'll see how it goes down when we get there."

With that, Dom and Vince waited impatiently as they drove. As they caught up with the other racers, Dom saw exactly how they were going to keep these races contained and devoid of regular commuting drivers. He watched as each spectator created a barrier with their cars, and spray paint they used to mark the starting and finish line. Judging from the length, Dom guessed it was a quarter mile race, and would only last about ten seconds. He wondered how much adrenaline could possibly be felt with a small ten second race. The only races he had ever seen were ones on TV, and his own father's, which lasted for several laps.

Hector's cousin dropped them off near the spray painted finish line, and told one of his good friends to look after his cousin and his friends. Phillip drove off to the starting finish line to meet the other racers competing for the mound of cash at stake.

Dom watched each driver intently, studying their emotions, and ability to focus. Some competitors were flirting with girls as they revved up the engines to their cars. While others were busy listening to music, and texting on their phone. He shook his head at these drivers. They were so unfocused. _Their eyes and mind should be tuned in on the path ahead at the finish line_, he thought. There was only one driver who appeared to ignore the girls flaunting their goods, the loud music, and cheering crowd. Dom put his imaginary money on this driver.

When all was in the clear, a fellow spectator gave a signal to the drivers to get ready, and once his arms fell to his sides the cars sped off. Dom smirked as he watched the driver he picked jump ahead of the pack early. He was right. This driver took the time to map out and visualize the win. He didn't bother with girls because they'd be there after the race. He didn't bother to pay attention to the music because it has a pause and resume button. The other drivers that wasted their time on this, instead of the race at hand had no time to map out any sort of plan for the race. And just like that, the racer Dom chose won. He marveled at the scene afterwards, how the whole crowd swarmed the winner like bees on honey. The girls and fellow racers praised him with the type of divine glorification that would only occur with royalty, a king, or a god. Dom was captivated by the sight his eyes were bearing. He was envious. In that moment he and Vince shared the same thought; they wanted to grow up quick. This was where they belonged.

As they waited for Hector's cousin to come pick them up Dom's thoughts went to Letty. He wished she could have been here to see this. Unlike these girls that filled the scene, Letty was one who would appreciate it for what it really was. These girls were only into the guys with good looks, the guys who had the most money, and most importantly the guys who won. Letty, she'd appreciate the ability of each car – along with its fine body of work – the work ethic of each driver, and the actual race. He couldn't wait to get home and fall asleep, so that he could tell her all about it tomorrow at the race track.

The drive home was a silent one for Dom. He ignored the playful banter between Vince, Hector, and Phillip. He was on his own limitless high and was tuning everything out that would possibly disturb its thrilling ambience. Tonight he knew he would fall into a peaceful slumber effortlessly.

Phillip dropped Vince and Dom on the corner of their block. They thanked Hector for inviting them and said they'd see him Monday at school. After the car sped away, they clambered down the sidewalk toward their house. Vince hopped onto the porch rail where he gave Dom a boost onto the roof to climb into his bedroom window. He glanced at the red digital numbers to his alarm clock. 11:45pm, it wasn't as late as he thought. Even though it was difficult to leave the racing scene, he was glad he'd get a reasonable amount of sleep for tomorrow's events with his dad.

Dom silently padded through the hall and down the stairs to open the front door for Vince.

"Best night of the year," Vince whispered through the dark.

"Gotta agree with you there, brother," Dom whispered back.

"I'm gonna crash, bro. I don't wanna be all tired tomorrow. See you in the morning," Vince said as he quietly stepped upstairs to his new bedroom.

Dom kicked off his shoes and sauntered over to the kitchen for a glass of water. He took light, quick steps toward his bedroom but was knocked into the wall by a smaller figure heading downstairs.

"Damn it Mia, watch where you're going," Dom breathed angrily as he rubbed his elbow.

"I'm not Mia, and you should learn to turn on the light, stupid," Letty retorted.

Dom went over and flicked on the light switch to brighten the hallway. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, looks like my mom had plans to go on a hot date with a bus boy from the diner she works at. So I'm spending the night, and she said I can go with you guys to your dad's race. So, I'm not entirely missing out on racing," Letty explained.

"Cool," Dom said smiling as he turned off the light. "Come on, Letty. Come to my room so I can tell you about my night, you're gonna flip."

Letty followed Dom into his room. She flopped down on the corner of his bed and listened intently to his description of this underground race scene. Her eyes lit up in amazement as she tried to imagine the cars and overall atmosphere. The intricate talk of supped up cars, and fast driving tingled her brain. Seeing Letty's reaction made him glad he shared this information with her. She was a true fan at heart, not like those girls who were just groupies of the sport, and not fanatics like he or Letty. Losing a few hours of sleep to see her face light up the way it did was definitely worth it.

"Wow," Letty said amazed, "I missed one hell of a scene. I wish I could see it. Sounds like it's a pretty mature filled scene though."

"Yeah, it kinda is. Me and Vince probably looked like tag a longs," Dom admitted.

Letty sighed. "I so want to grow up already."

Dom smiled at her statement. It was only a few hours ago that he thought the same thing.

"Hey, Letty, what did you want to tell me the day you bum rushed into the basement?" Dom asked.

"Oh," Letty said with a hint of excitement in her voice, "my dad wrote me."

"Really? What did he say?"

"He's stationed in Mississippi right now, but thinks they'll be moving soon. Hawaii he thinks. He even sent me a few hundred bucks to save up for my dream car. If I don't spend any, then I'm sure I'll have enough to get my Nissan by the time I get my license," Letty explained.

"That's great Let. He call yet? When's he get to come see you on leave?"

"Actually, he called tonight, just before my left for her date. We talked for a good thirty minutes. He says he only gets 2.5 days of leave a month, and promises he'll visit when they travel to their new base. He says his unit has to take turns when going on leave. Anyway, I was just excited and relieved to finally talk to him. I can't wait for you to meet him, Dom."

Dom smiled at how happy Letty was when she talked about her father. He understood, because he felt the same emotions when it came to his own dad. He spent the next hour hearing all the details of the letter. Her dad seemed as cool as his own father, and thought they too would get along really well. Even though he was starting to feel tired, he didn't want the night with Letty to end just yet. He enjoyed her company.

"Hey, Let, you wanna watch a movie?" He asked.

"Which one?"

Dom smirked, "Ghostbusters."

Letty crinkled her nose. "Eh,that's a little kiddie, don't ya think?"

"Pfft! How can you hate on the Ghostbusters, and the stay puft marshmallow man is the shit," Dom explained as shook his head disbelievingly.

He sat up and popped the movie into the VHS player and went to the bathroom to change into comfortable clothes.

Letty turned over onto her stomach and splayed out on Dom's bed. She grabbed one of his pillows and snuggled her head against it. She inhaled deeply, taking in his lingering scent, and smiled. As the opening credits began to roll, Letty could feel her eyelids becoming heavy. Before she knew it, her eyes closed shut; her breathing slowed, and fell asleep.

Dom returned to his room and tossed his dirty clothes to an empty spot on the floor. He plopped down on the floor at the foot of his bed. "Hey, Letty, you want some popcorn?" He asked without tearing his eyes from the TV.

When there was no answer, he looked back to see Letty in a peaceful slumber. He smiled and turned to stop the movie. He went out into the hall, grabbed a sheet, and covered Letty's body. "Good night, Letty," he whispered quietly as he backtracked out of his room. He jogged downstairs and nestled comfortably on the living room sofa.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Fast and Furious or its characters. No copyright infringement intended. This fictitious work is for entertainment purposes only.

**Author's Note:** Wow, it's been far too long since I've updated, so I added more onto this chapter. I'm going on vacation but I will_ try _to update on more chapter by tomorrow! However, I can promise by late next week I will be updating regularly again. Thanks for sticking around and reading. The feedback is much appreciated and the fuel to keep this fic alive. :)

* * *

Letty's eyes opened with a start as someone's finger poked her back. Her shocked face abruptly met Mia's.

"Damn it, Mia, you scared the crap outta me," Letty breathed out angrily.

Mia laughed. "Sorry, but we gotta start getting ready. My dad wants to leave early."

"Okay," Letty said as she turned away and wrapped the sheet around her body tighter.

"So….." Mia began, "why are you sleeping in Dom's bed? Where'd he sleep.....Oh god, please tell me you guys didn't…"

Letty sat upright on the bed and glared at Mia incredulously. "Hell no we didn't."

Mia sat beside her on the bed. "Sheesh, okay, okay, calm down……so where did he sleep?"

Letty shrugged as she replayed last night's events in her head. "I dunno. Last thing I remember we were gonna watch Ghostbusters and I guess I just fell asleep."

"What is it with my brother and that damn movie? He needs to let that kiddie movie go," Mia said as she shook her head. "Well, come on. Let's go get ready before my dad starts rushing us."

"Alright," Letty complied reluctantly.

"I bet you're all happy you fell asleep on my brother's bed," Mia teased as they entered her room.

Letty narrowed her eyes. "Shut up."

As usual, Mia was the first one dressed and in the kitchen helping her father with the morning breakfast. And to their surprise, Vince was wide awake and ready for the day's events. Letty and Dom, however, were both lagging it, due to the lack of sleep from last night. After getting dressed they both flopped down on opposite ends of the couch for some last minute snoozing. They were even too tired to fill their stomach's up with any food.

"How could you be so hateful towards food? This is a catastrophe," Vince told them as he shoved more scrambled egg in his mouth.

"V, shh, I'm trying to get some last minute sleep," Dom groaned out from the sofa.

"Yeah, silence, please. Look at it this way, more for you," Letty added tiredly.

Before they could close their eyes again Anthony came barging through the front door.

He clapped his hands together loudly. "Alright, let's get going everybody. I wanna get some extra test runs before the track starts to fill up."

Dom sighed and lazily rose from the couch. "I'm riding in the trailer."

"Me too. I wanna get some sleep so I can actually enjoy some racing today," Letty added quickly.

Mia grinned broadly and silently mouthed the words "riiiight" and winked sarcastically at her. Letty did really want to catch up on getting some sleep, but now that Mia knew she had a thing for her brother, she had ever intention to tease her about it every chance she got. She loved seeing Letty blush.

Letty's only response was her deadly glare before heading out the front door.

Vince took a seat in the backseat by himself, while Mia rode upfront next to her father. Dom and Letty lazily sauntered into the attached trailer and quickly fell asleep on the small couches parallel to each other. It was a bump in the road that shook the trailer causing Letty and Dom to wake with a start.

Dom inhaled slowly and rubbed his tired eyes. "Sheesh, you'd think with my dad being a racer he'd know how to avoid pot holes in the road."

Letty sat upright as she slowly stretched her arms over her head. "Calm down, grumpy. It's early."

"Yeah, well, I didn't exactly go sleep early."

"You know, you could have woken up me up last night, to go to Mia's room," Letty told him.

"Nah, you looked comfortable. I didn't wanna wake you," he said politely. "Besides, I didn't want to get my face clawed. I know how grumpy you can get when you're woken up too."

Letty tossed a pillow at Dom's face. "I'm not Mia."

Dom chuckled. "So how did it feel to be the first girl to grace Dom's bedroom?" He continued to tease.

"You're an idiot," she said as she rolled her eyes. Later, she would come to appreciate that little fact.

For the rest of the drive they relaxed on the sofas, talked about the race to take place, and the other racers Dom's dad was going against. They even revisited last night's conversations about the underground drag races, and Letty's own father. Time was also spent with playful banter of Dom's fascination with Ghostbusters and the stay puft marshmallow man being one the best characters in the film. They had such a good time in the trailer that it felt like their conversation rejuvenated them. And as the wheels of the trailer came to a halt they barged out onto the track looking and feeling more awake than Mia and Vince. Mia, who notices all simply kept grinning from ear to ear. She secretly loved the idea of Dom and Letty possibly being boyfriend and girlfriend. And knowing Mia, she was probably already planning their wedding in her head.

While Anthony went to meet up with his pit crew and fellow mechanics, Mia, Vince, Letty, and Dom waltzed away to their usual seats. Before they entered their boxed seats, Dom stopped their gait.

"Hey Letty, you wanna go get some food?" He offered. "I'm starving."

Letty moved toward Dom. "Alright, let's go."

"Bring me something back," Vince yelled as they walked away.

Since they arrived Dom had his eyes set on the stand with the ever so greasy chili cheese fries. It was becoming something like a ritual for him and Vince to stop by this stand at least once during race days at the track.

"Nothing like a pool of oil for breakfast," Letty teased.

Dom gently nudged her arm. "It's delicious oil, so shut up."

They waited in line for about fifteen minutes before order two large orders of chili cheese fries. The bowls containing the crispy potatoes, topped with chili and cheddar cheese were bigger than their heads. When they returned to their seats Dom chose to sit next to Letty, rather than in between Vince and Mia.

"Here, V," Dom said as he handed Vince an enormous bowl of fries.

Vince's eyes widened and began to drool at just the sight and smell of them. "Good looking out, bro."

Dom chuckled. "Yeah, V, we've come to know that any kind of food we get– no matter how big – we have to get you your own if we want any."

Vince would have protested if not for the large ball of food in his mouth, so he merely waved his comment off with a wave of his hand as he delved back into his succulent mounds of food heaven.

"Mia, come sit over here so you can get some fries," Letty suggested.

"I ate breakfast already. You _two _enjoy that all by yourselves," she said with a wide grin on her face.

Letty clenched her jaw and glared at her, she felt Mia was pushing it now. However, she was glad that Dom was too busy stuffing his face with cheesy fries to notice or catch Mia's euphemism on the word two. After instilling what she thought was fear in Mia, Letty returned to the bowl of food she and Dom were sharing only to find it half empty.

"Sheesh, I want some too Dom," Letty yelled as she tugged the bowl away from Dom.

"You snooze, you lose," Dom mumbled out through his stuffed mouth. He chewed quickly and swallowed. "Here," he said as he scooped up a generous amount of fries and brought it to Letty's mouth. The gesture surprised her but she complied and ate the bit he fed her. "Now stop complaining and dig in."

Letty smiled discretely and immediately joined in on devouring the messy fries.

During the next fifteen minutes the only audible sounds coming from any of them was chewing, smacking of their food, and the licking of fingers, forks, and bowls. The only time they averted their attention from their food was too quickly watch Anthony do practice runs around the track. When there were no traces of fries or its greasy toppings Vince and Dom dropped their styrofoam bowls on the ground. The light clap against the cement caused Mia to avert her intent gaze from her father and onto Dom, Vince, and Letty.

One look at all of their faces sent Mia into hysterical laughter. "Oh my gosh, look at your faces! You guys are messier than babies."

Letty, Vince, and Dom each took a moment to take in one's appearance, and within a matter of seconds they were rolling with hysterics along with Mia. Their mouths and surrounding areas – chin, cheeks – was covered with chili and little melted strings of cheese.

"This is a moment to remember," Mia uttered out through her laughter, "Picture time people."

She pulled out her camera and motioned for them to scrunch together. Vince was sitting on the bench below everyone so he scooted over so that his shoulder touched Dom's knee. Dom instinctive wrapped his lengthy arm around Letty and pulled her close into his body. Without hesitation she slipped her arm around his waist and followed Mia's instructions and said cheese.

"Awesome, this is so going in a photo frame," Mia squealed out.

After untangling their limbs the three of them scurried off in a hurry to get cleaned up, while Mia stayed behind to guard their seats. When they finally returned the racers were continuing to prep for the race. After twenty minutes of small talk the racers lined up their cars at the starting line. The four of them gazed toward the driver side window of the black charger and waited for Anthony's signature wave to them. The minute they saw Anthony's gloved hand gesture to them they erupted in a succession of yells being led by Dom.

"You got this in the bag, pop," he yelled out as he clapped his hands together firmly.

Mia cupped her tiny hands around her mouth and yelled," Let's go dad!"

"Let's bring in another win for team Toretto," Vince boomed out.

Letty clapped loudly and yelled as loud as everyone else in the stands, "Woooo, let's go Anthony!"

The second the lights signaled green to go the crowd's cheers intensified. Throughout the race Vince, Letty, Mia, and Dom watched Anthony race immaculately. His driving skills were impeccable, so much so that watching often left – not only his kids – but fellow fans in awe of him. As laps wore on, two at a time would leave to go get drinks and snacks, while two stayed behind and watched the seats, but most importantly to report back on what was missed. There were moments when Mia took more pictures; some of Vince and Dom, Vince and Letty, and once again Dom and Letty. Each one of them rotated using the camera to capture some photos with Mia.

As the final lap approached everyone in the stands rose to their feet. This was by far the most exciting lap when all the racers would push their cars to incredible lengths, and make unbelievable moves to pass other cars. Throughout the race Anthony held the third spot, once falling into fourth, but quickly regained third. Now in the final lap he was flirting with second place and finally took it in the first turn. This made Vince, Dom, Letty, and Mia even more ecstatic. As the thrilling black charger sped down the track it blocked multiple attempts of the car behind it from passing. When Anthony reached the final turn he punched it and was now side by side, tied for first. In the last few lengths leading up to the finish line, he made a small spurt forward, crossing the finishing line only a few inches ahead. Even though Dom was formidably far away from the finish line he could tell his father pulled out a win and led in a roar of cheers.

While the crowd was still in a buzz Dom, Letty, Vince, and Mia were anxiously waiting for the all the cars to come to halt before bum rushing onto the track.

"Now you kids better stay put this time. I don't care if the cars have stopped moving, the rules are no fans are allowed on the track, and that's final," the middle aged chubby security guard stated.

Vince smiled mischievously. "Louie, when have we ever not listened to you?"

"You guys never listened to me. The minute I turn my back you jump over the rail and start running toward the winners circle. I'm prepared this time though. I've hired some new, young, and athletic help to catch you just in case," he said as he motioned to his left.

All four of them peeked over the rail to check out the new security guards. There were two of them and looked around twenty. Dom and Vince shared the same thoughts after sizing them up. _I can easily out run them._ While Letty and Mia thought, _we're going to have to run a lot faster_.

Dom returned his attention to the security. "Don't worry about it, Louie."

He nodded, tugged up his pants, and continued his gait down the sidelines of the track.

As soon as all the cars on the track silenced their engines Dom and Vince hopped over the rail and onto the sleek paved track. Letty and Mia acted quickly and hopped over to be caught my Dom and Vince. They wasted no time in jetting as fast as they could. It would only be a matter of time before the old timer Louie would yell for his new guards to catch them. So far their usual bum rush onto the track was being executed with ease.

As predicted Louie called his new watch dogs after them within minutes. The older timer wasn't kidding when he said they were athletic because they caught up rather quick and were soon right on their tails. Dom instantly took notice of this and told Vince to carry Mia on his back, while Dom slowed down and motioned for the Letty to climb on his. As she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his abdomen she thought, _I can get used to this_.

Even with the younger additions to the security crew, Dom and Vince still outran them, and managed to nestle their way through the sea of people surrounding Anthony. They immediately bombarded him with hugs, high fives, and more loud chants of "Team Toretto is number one!" Winning – which happened often at the track – was always such a great high.

After small congratulations and a little ceremony Anthony and his team started trekking back to their station to gather everything up and journey back home. In the midst of their conversation the sound of a bitter voice interjected, causing them to stop their stride.

"I almost had you Toretto, you barely won," the man said.

Anthony gave a small chuckle. "You almost had me? That's an interesting statement."

"It's a true statement and next time you won't be so lucky."

Anthony smiled as he shook his head. "Linder, you can ask any real racer…any real driver…it doesn't matter if you win by an inch or a mile……winnings, winning. Am I right guys?"

Dom, Vince, Letty, Mia, and the entire crew agreed loud enough for Linder to hear.

Before he could respond Anthony wrapped his arms around Dom and Mia and continued their stride back toward the car.

The day's events were full of non-stop excitement and made for great conversation on the way back home. Nobody rode back in the trailer, they all piled into the car pulling it with Anthony, and talked his ear off the entire way home. Each of them took turns to tell their favorite part of the races and calling Linder a sore loser. As Anthony pulled onto their street Dom brought up something that had been heavy on his mind since experiencing the late night race scene.

"Dad, don't you think it's about time you teach me and Vince how to drive?" Dom asked.

His father frowned. "Dominic, you're only in the eighth grade. Don't you think you're getting a little ahead of yourself?"

"Ah, come on Mr. T, teach us already," Vince jumped in.

"That way when we do drivers ed in high school we'll be experienced," Dom added.

"You can wait for drivers ed, Dominic."

"But we want to learn from the best not some square of at teacher, come on dad, please."

Anthony sighed before finally agreeing. "I might know a place where I can teach you boys."

"Yes!" Vince and Dom said triumphantly.

Mia gawked. "What? Dad, please tell me you're kidding. You're going to show them how to drive?"

"If you're going to teach them how to drive, then you should teach us how to drive as well, it's only fair," Letty added.

Anthony sighed and shook his head. "Now you girls know you are way too young to drive. I bet neither of can reach the pedals, let alone see over the steering wheel."

"Oh dad, come on now. It's not like we're five," Mia protested.

Anthony took a moment to think before trying to compromise with them. "How about this: you two wait until you're in the eighth grade and I'll promise I'll save all my best secrets in driving for you two. Sound good?"

Exclusivity always won Mia over. "Fine, but you promise?"

Anthony parked the car in the drive way and turned the key to shut the engine off. He looked directly into Mia and Letty's eyes and said, "I promise."

They both smiled and their pouting was tossed out the window as they climbed out of the car. Vince and Dom shook their heads thinking Anthony was just saying that to get them off his back. It wouldn't be until years later that they would find out he kept his promise to the both of them.

Before thinking about entering the Toretto house Letty glanced down the street toward her own. "Hey guys, I'm gonna head over to my house and check in with my mom. I'll be back for dinner."

"Okay, Letty. Bring your mom over to celebrate with us if you want," Dom told her as she trotted down the street.

"Okay," she yelled back as climbed the steps to the front door.

Letty entered her house, peeked in the living room, and went off to the kitchen to find her mother.

"Hey ma……Anthony won his race his today," she greeted and informed as she sat across the kitchen table from her mom.

She blew on the hot liquid she was drinking and took a sip. "That's good. Maybe one day I'll go to these races and see how well of a driver he is."

"He's really good……but uh……how did the date go?" Letty asked curiously.

Her mother drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She smiled and giggled to herself. "It went great."

"By the way you just got all……giddy, I'd say it went more than great."

Anna chuckled. "He's a great man. It's definitely a nice change from dating a mechanic. I think you'd like him, Leticia."

Letty gave her a faint smile. "Yeah, maybe."

"Well, I plan on seeing him again. I can really see this going somewhere and you need a father figure around."

"Geez, mom, calm down. It was just one date and now you're already mapping out your future with this guy. And for the record, I do have a father figure, he just happens to be in the army."

Anna waved off her daughter's comments. She had such a good time on her date she felt like a lovestruck teenager.

"Speaking of your father, he called today, around two or so. He said he call back…….around this time as a matter of fact."

Letty's heart skipped a beat. Any mention of her father always excited her. She missed him incredibly. Just as she looked up at the clock the phone rang and she sped off into the living room to answer it. And on the receiving end was her father. One of the many things she loved about him is that he always kept his promises.

Throughout their whole conversation Letty's eyes were glimmering with happiness and a sweet broad smile was spread across her face. It was a true statement to say that she did in fact light up whenever she would talk to him. She waited patiently while he told her about the new base in Hawaii, what the beaches were like, and how he gets to work on the hummers for the army too. Letty marveled at that fact he was even a great mechanic in their too. When it was her turn to speak she started out with how much she missed and loved him before telling him about school and the day's events at the races. For a brief moment she flirted with idea of letting him know about her feelings for Dom but refrained. She was daddy's little girl, so it would only send him into full on protection mode. By the end of their conversation her dad gave her a piece of information that had her riveting with excitement. She quickly said her goodbye and ran into the kitchen practically jumping for joy.

"Mom….Mom……guess what?" Letty asked quickly.

Her mom quirked her eyebrows. "Leticia, calm down. It looks like you're going to bounce off the wall any second. What is it?"

"Dad is coming to see me in January!" She practically screamed and squealed out like a girly-girl. She was so excited that she started dancing around the kitchen.

Anna's face slightly dropped. She had not seen Letty's father in awhile and she left on bad terms. "Leticia, I hope you understand when I tell you this……but I don't want your father staying here."

Letty stopped flailing her around and brought her feet to a halt. "What? You've got to be kidding me. Why not?

"You know me and your father are not going to get along. I really do not want to see that man," Anna explained.

Letty placed her hands on her hips as she shook her head incredulously. "Wow, I can't believe this. I haven't seen my father in forever and you're telling me that he has to stay somewhere else. This is unbelievable! Can't you put aside your personal grudge against him and think about me and much it would mean to me?"

Her mother went quiet and offered no response so Letty continued.

"His visit here is about me, seeing me, not you. Why can't you see that? Why can't you put your personal grudges aside and act as parents instead of a bitter couple."

Anna sighed at her daughter's words, not because she was wrong, but because she was right. Her personal grudges shouldn't be getting in the way of Letty seeing her father. In fact, Letty brought up a great point; her and her father should come together and communicate as parents, instead of acting like a bitter couple. "Alright, he can stay here."

Letty almost had to do a double take. This had to be the first time her mother ever listened to the words that were coming out of her mouth. Typically her mom would say something like, 'no I don't want to hear it, my word is final.' Without thinking Letty wrapped her arms around her mother tightly, thanking her for understanding.

"Mom, dinner at Toretto's, a celebration dinner…..wanna come?" Letty offered before she headed out the door.

Anna shook her head no. "No, mija, I'm gonna stay in and talk on the phone like a love struck teenager. But tell Anthony I said congratulations."

Letty shook her head. "Alright ma, I'll be back later."

Within seconds Letty was at the front door of the Toretto's knocking to be let it. The door swung open revealing Dom on the other end.

"Letty, why do you still knock? Just come right in here, you swear like you're some stranger," Dom told her.

"Sorry man, bad but good habit I guess," she explained. "Oh and guess what, I talked to my dad and he's coming to see me in January."

"No wonder you took so long. That's great news, I bet you can't wait for it to be January," he smiled. He loved seeing Letty light up the way she did when she talked about her father.

"You kidding me, I want to fall asleep tonight and wake up tomorrow to find that it's January already."

"It'll get here, don't worry." He said as they walked side by side toward the living room. "My dad is gonna teach me and Vince how to drive tomorrow, you wanna come? Watch how much of a natural driving I am?"

Letty snorted. "Natural driver, huh? Ha, this I gotta see, so yeah I'll come along."

The evening wasn't filled with Anthony's stellar cooking, but several large pizzas, hot wings, and macaroni and cheese. After a long day of racing he wasn't exactly thrilled about cooking up a storm in the kitchen, so he opted to order out – which was more than okay with everyone. As the evening wore on a few of Anthony's fellow mechanics dropped by to share a few coronas and celebrate. About an hour before midnight is when they finally dispersed home, and Anthony finally called it a night. He knew Dom and Vince would hold him to his promise of showing them how to drive so he fell asleep rather quickly once his head touched his soft pillow.

Mia and Vince helped clean up before following suit and calling it a night. They were all excited about the driving lessons that were to be given tomorrow afternoon. Dom opted out in going to sleep, flopped down on some pillows in the living room and popped the movie Halloween into the VCR. Letty was going to head home, but refrained when she saw an unfamiliar car in parked in the driveway of her house. She guessed it was her mom's new boyfriend and decided to call home and ask to spend the night. Her mother quickly said yes before hanging up.

"Letty, you heading to bed or you gonna watch Halloween with me?" Dom asked as she hung up the phone.

"That's an easy question, you know I'm a sucker for that movie," she answered.

"Good, then you can make some popcorn, thanks," He smiled and gave her a cheesy thumb up.

Letty rolled her eyes. "Ha, you're dreaming. I'm nobody's maid or butler, you better make it yourself."

Dom turned his head to the side and gave Letty his best puppy dog face. "Pleeeeaaassse, Letty."

The sound of his voice slightly changed to that baritone sound that sent little chills down her spine. Letty did her best to keep a straight face and keep herself from shuddering as if a cool breeze passed through. She sighed, "Fine," and pretended to annoyingly march into the kitchen to make some.

After dumping the large bag of freshly popped popcorn in a bowl Letty trekked back to the living to join Dom. When she entered he was no longer laying down, but sitting upright on some cushions against the couch. He looked up to her and patted a spot on the floor next to him, "Have a seat."

Letty complied and flopped down on the cushions he laid out on the floor. "Here's the popcorn, now shh, the movie is talking."

He grinned and tussled her hair playfully. "Thanks, Letty."

With this being one of Letty's all time favorite movies she was into every second of it. Dom, however, kept looking over at her, watching her intently. He marveled at how she wasn't a typical girl who got freaked out by movies like this, and didn't need to clutch onto the nearest arm. He found it quite intriguing. The more he hung around Letty he found himself finding and admiring her more and more. He was grateful that he found such a great friend in her. If Letty had paid any attention to Dom, she would have found it quite weird that he was smiling while Michael Meyers was going all psychotic on people. But he eventually did force his eyes to the TV before she could notice his intriguing trance upon her. And before he knew it he felt Letty's wavy locks – which felt like soft silk – caress the skin on his right arm.

Dom reached over with his left hand to hold Letty in place while firmly planted his feet on the ground. From there he effortlessly lifted her into his arms. He briefly looked over at the stairs and quickly discarded the idea of carrying her upstairs to Mia's room, and laid her gently onto the sofa. When he retracted his arms, Letty shifted slightly and sighed peacefully.

After reading the digital numbers of the time on the VCR Dom decided to call it a night. Once again the stairs were looking more and direr to climb as his eye lids started to become heavy. He sluggishly padded to a hall cupboard and pulled out two sheets – one for Letty and himself. After covering her, he allowed his body to collapse onto the cushions he blanketed on the floor and fell fast asleep.

The rays from the rising morning sun peeked through the curtains in the living room, causing Letty to wake from her peaceful slumber. She repositioned her head and fluttered her eyelids open. Immediately she noticed she was not in Mia's room and sat upright instantly. She automatically assumed that she climbed onto the couch and Dom went up to his room, so she continued with her morning ritual stretches and popping of her toes. Wanting to beat everyone for a generous amount of shower time, Letty swung her legs off the couch and stepped down. Instead of feeling soft cushions or hardwood floors, her feet made contact with flesh and bone belonging to Dom. She quickly lost her balance and went tumbling to the floor.

"Arrgghhh," Dom yelled out in pain as he wrapped his arms around his abdomen. "Jesus, Letty, can't you see I'm sleeping here."

"Um, hello, I fell on the hardwood floor…..ouch…..and it's your fault. Who sleeps at the foot of a couch while another person is sleeping it on – not smart Dom. It's your own fault," Letty yelled back. "Besides, it's not like a weight a ton, so suck it up."

All Dom could do was simply laugh at her comments – not only because they were true – but because it was so Letty, and he enjoyed that. "You got a point there," he managed to say through his laughs.

Their morning started out like any others: Anthony cooking breakfast and Mia play sui chef, Vince and his growling stomachs eagerly waiting at the table, while Dom and Letty continued with their back and forth banter. And too much to their delight, the afternoon rolled around quicker than one would have hoped. As promised Anthony drove to a secluded area near some abandoned warehouses where it would be safe to practice, but most all be hidden from police.

Somehow Vince got Dom to let him go first. It was quite comical due to the commentary of Mia and Letty. The laughter from Dom didn't help either due to the combination of the car jerking from not shifting gears fast enough, or grinding them. When Vince did finally pass that phase he found it difficult to get out of first, but he conquered it after awhile. Letty said it felt like being on a badly constructed roller coaster, while Mia added a roller coaster that malfunctioned. When it was Dom's turn, he pompously jumped into the front seat and adjusted his mirrors. He too struggled at first with the stick shift, but caught on a formidably quicker than Vince, which even impressed his own father. Dom was just happy he didn't completely suck, especially in front of Letty. He wasn't quite sure, but lately, he found himself putting Letty's opinion as the standards to reach.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

As weeks wore on Dom and Vince continued to sneak out with Hector and his cousin Phillip on weekends to watch races. It only fueled them to pester Anthony into teaching them not only basic driving skills but racing ones too. As always he reluctantly complied and once again had to makes deals with Mia and Letty so they didn't feel left out. After every race night, Letty would be at the Toretto house, waiting for Dom to report back on all the magnificent cars and events she missed out on. It was slowly becoming a routine for them, so much so, that Dom was expecting her to be there every time. If possible, it made them closer than they already were.

The first half of the school year elapsed rather quickly. One minute the sun was shining through clear blue skies and the next it was an unpolluted shade of gray, with the leaves on the branches turning brown and falling dead to the ground. Along with the weather changes, Dom and Letty changed as well. They started spending more time together, whether it was at each other's houses, the shop, or school. What Letty loved about it most was that it was just her and him – each time discovering something new about each other that made them grateful for knowing each other. It made her giddy and think of the possibility of actually being Dom's girlfriend.

As winter rolled around Letty tossed around the idea of talking to Dom about being exclusive. She figured all this time being spent together had to mean something; all these new feelings had to be building up to this. With the drastic change in the weather, racing nights slowly dissipated. The rain that caused sleek, slippery, streets were no foundation to race on. Even though every racer loved racing, they weren't going to risk spinning out of control and wrecking their car or worse their own body. So their routine of Letty waited for Dom in his room was broken. However, it was quickly replaced with Letty spending the night every weekend. It was almost like she lived there.

After another fun and excited weekend Letty sat Indian style across from Mia on her bed discussing her thoughts about Dom.

"I so think you should tell him tomorrow at school or something. It just needs to happen," Mia suggested.

Letty shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno, Mia……I mean I want to……but……"

"But what?" she asked quickly.

"Well……I'm afraid of what he'll say. What if he laughs in my face and thinks I'm joking around," Letty admitted.

Mia rolled her eyes. "Oh please, all that time you guys have been spending together, I already thought you two were a couple. Just do it, tomorrow."

Letty sighed and nodded her head, "Fine."

The next day at school Letty's stomach was doing flips, so much so, that she was starting to feel squeamish. Nerves – which was rare and always a new experience for her – managed to creep into her mind and express itself through her sweaty palms. Throughout her morning classes she found it difficult to focus on the teacher's lectures and class work in general. When lunch finally approached she managed to compose herself just enough to have dry hands and stable speaking voice. She and Mia went over last minute prep talk before going their separate ways for lunch. _What's the worst that could happen_? She thought.

Letty quickly trekked toward the courtyard of the lunch area. She knew Dom would be alone for at least a good ten minutes before Hector and Vince barged in on the table with loads of food for everyone. However, when her eyes caught site of Dom, he wasn't alone. In fact, the person sitting beside him – the spot that had become Letty's for months now – was now taken by another girl. Normally she wouldn't think anything of it, but to invite her to 'the table' meant something. Letty sighed and continued to make her way to the lunch table to find out who exactly this was.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Fast and The Furious or its characters. No copyright infringement intended. This fictitious work is for entertainment purposes only.

**Author's Note:** I've been trying to update this story multiple times on (9/4) and it would not let me. I kept getting processing error (annoying) from the document manager, but now that that's settled I'll be updating regularly _now_. Thanks for sticking around. Again, the _feedback is very much appreciated._

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As Letty slowly started coming within closer proximity she found her footsteps becoming quicker. There was something about this new girl that had her worried – everything from her dirty blond hair to the shimmering glow her lightly tanned skin was giving off. It all appeared to be on the verge of jeopardizing her talk with Dom about being more than just friends. Before she could clear her throat loud enough to interrupt the conversation Dom averted his eyes from this new girl and met with Letty's.

"Hey Letty, I want you to meet someone," Dom greeted.

_Yippie, _she thought sarcastically to herself.

"This is Suki," he said motioning with his hand to the girl sitting beside him.

"Hey, what's up girl? Dom here has been telling me all about you. It's finally nice to meet a chick who's into cars."

Letty was silent for a moment. She smiled inside at the fact that Dom was talking about her to another girl. Who talks about another girl – who isn't your sister – to a girl that would be girlfriend material? _So far so good_, she thought. "So you're into cars too, huh. That's cool. Any particular make you're into?" Letty asked as she took a seat across from Dom and Suki.

"Well not a specific one, but I do favor a certain 'brand', Hondas," she answered.

"Not bad," Letty said coolly.

"Yeah, I also want an all girl race team," she added as she nudged Dom playfully in the shoulder.

"Good luck with that," he chuckled.

Letty snorted. "It's not impossible. In fact, that's a pretty sweet idea man. I'd be in one."

"Thank you!" Suki said firmly toward Dom.

Dom furrowed his brow. "What? You'd choose to be in a girl team over a team with me, Vince and Mia?"

Letty tried to fight back a smile. "Well… no….but an all girl team isn't impossible or a bad idea."

"Ah, that's what I thought," Dom said triumphantly which caused both girls to roll their eyes.

"Hey D-" Letty began but was quickly cut off by Vince and Hector dropping their lunch trays on the table with their usual mounds of food for everyone.

"Hey Suki, what do you want? I got cheeseburgers, fries, ham and cheese, chips, burritos, and chicken strips." Vince asked quickly.

Letty found this odd because no matter what Vince would always ask her first. She shook it off immediately and thought he was just being polite. Maybe it was Vince who was trying to hook up with Suki.

She eyed the packed lunch tray thoroughly," hmm……I'll take….. a cheeseburger….fries…..and some of those chicken strips."

Vince quickly gathered everything up and handed it to her. "A girl with an appetite, now that's what I'm talking about."

"Wow, you and Letty are more alike than I thought," Dom randomly stated as he watched Suki intently.

"Really?" They both said in unison.

"Yeah, you guys are both into cars and racing them. You both obviously have guy-like appetites, and both of you have fathers in the military. That's pretty cool," Dom informed them.

"You're dad is in the military too?" Letty asked curiously.

"Yeah, he's actually stationed in San Diego. I wanted to stay there. I love the beach, but my mom doesn't so we came to LA," she answered before taking a generous bite of her cheeseburger.

"Oh that's cool," Letty said flatly as she gathered her own picnic of food from Vince and Hector's trays.

Throughout the entire lunch hour Vince, Hector, and Dom's sole focus was Suki. They asked all sorts of questions from all the places she's lived, her hopes and dreams with cars and racing, to her relationship status and if she was here to stay in Los Angeles. It was as though she was the shiny new toy. Letty briefly wondered if that's how they saw her the first time they met her. Was she outdated now? And she could have sworn Hector whispered to Vince that Suki was the new Letty but hotter. Turns her and her mother moved to LA a couple days ago and didn't live too far from the Toretto house. By the end of lunch Letty found out Suki had all the classes Dom did except for his advanced shop class. The whole time there was something in Dom's eyes that suggested he wanted to be more than just her friend. It only further raised suspicion about a possible hook up between them.

By the time Letty met up with Mia she was remotely frustrated. Everything she and Mia planned went South and beyond. This girl Suki popped up from nowhere and Letty didn't like it at all. The worst part of it all was that Letty could not even hate the girl. It was in fact true; Suki and Letty shared a lot of common interest. She could even entertain the notion that Suki and her personalities were quite similar, so naturally, Letty found it difficult to ignore her or even attempt to be malicious.

"So how did it go….details…details… come on, tell me," Mia immediately demanded.

All Letty had the energy to do was sigh heavily and wave her hand.

"That bad huh," Mia said softly. "Was he a total jerk or what?"

Letty shook her head and continued walking with her eyes fixed forward.

"Then what happened? Come on Letty, give me something. Sheesh, you have me worried now," Mia pleaded.

Letty drew in deep breath and stopped their gait to face an eager looking Mia. "Look…Mia……I'll just talk to you about later on tonight, alright."

Without another word spoken Letty continued walking to her next class, ignoring Mia's concerned face. Today was turning out to be one of the worst days for Letty, by far. She carelessly continued on class to class feeling defeated. Why couldn't she just catch a break already? It was all starting to become quite tiring. All the exclusive time spent with Dom was supposed to be a build up to something great and here comes along Suki – unintentionally of course – and tore it all down. It had to be the worst feeling in the world.

When Letty's final class approached – advanced shop – she wasn't even excited or thrilled about it. That's how Dom knew something was wrong with her. The way she lazily sauntered to their table, rested her chin on her hand, and stared off into space told him something was up. He cautiously sat beside her and tapped her on the shoulder. She was so deep in her thoughts she didn't even notice he entered the room. _If only that happened more often_, she thought.

"Hey, what's up Dom?" she said without looking at him.

"Not much, just getting to know this girl Suki a little better."

She lazily turned her eyes toward him. "Oh really? That's cool. She's like the new me huh."

Dom smiled. "Well, not really. You have a leg up on her with a few things."

Letty arched one of her eyebrows. "Yeah? Like what? Apparently she's the new me but hotter."

Dom chuckled and shook his head in amusement. "Nobody pays attention to Hector and rarely takes him serious."

"Really? Vince seems to agree with him on that statement," Letty informed him.

"Did you just hear yourself? You said _Vince _agreed with him, that should tell you right there just how wrong Hector's statement is" Dom assured her. "Is that what's been bothering you right now? Hector's dumbass comments?"

Letty simply shrugged. "I dunno."

"Well if it is then you're wasting your time stressing over it. It's not true. In fact, after getting to know her a little better, you know a lot more about cars than she does, you seem to be a lot tougher, definitely know more mechanical skills, and as far as looks go………Letty you're b-"

"Hey bro, I invited Suki back to garage if that's cool with you and your pops," Vince interrupted.

"Yeah, that's cool. The more the merrier," Dom answered quickly.

Just when the day was starting to improve Vince not only interrupts during a crucial moment but goes and invites Suki to the garage. _Just freaking great_, she thought. Letty winced and quickly turned away from them. She could have sworn that Dom was about to tell her she was beautiful. Vince could now undoubtedly be dubbed as the king of perfect timing. She rolled her eyes discretely and turned her attention to the classes' assignment.

The ride to the garage was annoyingly quick for Letty's liking and the whole time Mia kept sneaking glances at her to try and figure out what in the heck happened at lunch. Mia hated being out of the loop and it irked her beyond belief that she didn't know everything exactly when it happened. She wasn't about to wait any longer to find out either. The second everyone was out of the car Mia dragged Letty by the arm and into the garage's office. She swiftly shut the door close and placed her hands on hips.

"You seriously better tell me, right now, what the heck happened during lunch," she demanded.

Letty rubbed her forehead with one hand and peered out the office window to see Vince and Dom greeting Suki. "She's what happened."

Mia looked to gaze at where Letty's fingered pointed to and saw Suki for the first time. "Who the hell is that?"

"The shiny new toy," Letty said sarcastically. "She's into cars and all that stuff. And by the way she's giving those big goo goo eyes towards Dom; I'd say she's into him as well."

"You're paranoid she is not giving him the 'I'm so into you look'………wait, never mind……she's the touchy feely type of flirt."

"See, told ya," Letty said as she flopped down on the old leather couch against the wall.

"Come on Letty; don't get all gloomy on me. Don't give up on my brother now. So what, you have a little competition. Don't let her scare you off."

Letty scoffed. "Nobody is scaring anybody off. And I've decided not to give up because of what happened in shop class today."

Mia's ears perked up and eyes went wide. "Oh my god, you're holding information. Spill it, now."

Letty laughed at how much of a sucker Mia was for this romance stuff. "Well, Dom basically said that Suki didn't have anything on me, and almost said that I was beautiful before Vince barged into class and interrupted him."

"Swear? Damn Vince he ruins everything sometimes. So what made him say that?" Mia asked curiously.

"Something Hector said about Suki being the new me but better."

Mia rolled her eyes."Hector can say some stupid shit and don't worry about Suki. Obviously my brother thinks differently so you have nothing to worry about. Besides he thinks you're beautiful, so there. And I still think you should have that talk with him."

Letty nodded her head. "I will……as soon as I can get him alone."

They both made their way out of the office to meet up with Dom and company where Suki politely introduced herself to Mia. Just like Letty, Mia found it difficult to hate this girl or try and plot anything mischievous to swerve her away from Dom. To Mia she was uncannily similar to Letty. They each could hold their own around the guys, formidably knowledgeable with cars, and possessed that angel, devil personality, but Letty more so on the devilish side.

As Suki got to know her way around the garage Letty saw exactly what Dom meant when he said she had a leg up on her. Suki did know more than the average girl; however she seemed a bit lost when repairs to cars went beyond things like brake pads and oil changes. Letty's knowledge of cars and fixing them was much more extensive, even at such a young age. Suki also showed a liking to cars equipped with glitz and glam, whereas Letty could see right through that type of façade and identify a car's true potential. It made Letty smile broadly that Dom recognized this, and only made her like him that much more.

It was no surprise that Suki started hanging around everyone after her visit to DT. At school she'd hang out with Dom and Vince during breaks and attained a permanent seat at the lunch table beside Dom. At the garage she would commiserate with Mia and Letty, but the majority of her time spent was lingering around Dom and asking him about certain tools or repairs. Letty couldn't quite tell if she was doing it to get closer to Dom or if she genuinely wanted to learn, so she tried not to let their "alone time" get to her too much. And on occasion Suki would join them on the weekends to go to the movies, eat out, or just plain hang out. One thing she had yet to be invited to was back to the Toretto house or racing sessions with Anthony and Letty would be lying if she said it didn't like that little fact.

However, that little fact only lasted for so long. As winter break rolled around Suki was around more than ever. And if Letty was completely honest with herself she didn't like it one bit. Suddenly it was starting to become very easy to hate Suki. Letty noticed that the new girl's eyes, hands, and general presence would linger a little too long on Dom. It was slowly started to make Letty feel threatened, so much so, that she even tried have that talk with Dom again, but found it difficult. Now that there were no nerves getting in Letty's way she could never seem to find him alone, and if she did someone was always right there to interrupt mid sentence. It was becoming quite annoying. And just when she thought she was losing her shot with Dom he would say something that would keep her reaching for him. And when Suki started to try and ask Dom out alone, it made Letty immensely happy that Dom would always invite her. Dom was glad that she always obliged. But it was only a matter of time when Letty stopped accepting his offers, when the sight of Suki trying to lock arms with Dom was too much to bear. Once again Letty found she ready to let Dom go for good and as always he'd do something that kept her interested.

It was a muggy Sunday afternoon and the clouds just finished sprinkling the ground with light drops of rain. Letty was nestled comfortably on her sofa in the living room, wrapped up in thick quilt when there was a light knock at the door. She sighed at not wanting to leave her comfortable state but when the knocking wouldn't stop she finally got up and answered the door.

"Dang it's about time you answer the door," A freezing Dom complained as she rushed past Letty.

"Well that's why you should wear a jacket or a sweater so you won't freeze," Letty said flatly at she closed the front door. "What are you doing here anyway?"

Dom flopped down on the couch and covered himself with Letty's quilt. He looked at her quizzically. "Seriously? I need an excuse to come over your house now?"

"No………I just thought you'd be busy………have plans or something……" she sputtered out.

"Right………anyway………my dad made some barbecue in the house, thought I'd bring some over and we could watch some movies. It's a lazy day, so why not pig out in front of the TV," he said as he revealed a container of some of his father's best tasting barbecued food.

Letty smiled as she trekked into the kitchen to retrieve plates and silverware. She secretly loved these small moments between them. The fact that he just wanted it to be the two of them made it all so much sweeter. As they feasted on their barbecued food Dom took the liberty of popping one of his favorite movies in the VCR – Ghostbusters. Letty was enjoying the food and the company of Dom to even complain about the amount of times they've seen it. In a strange way, it was sort of becoming "their movie." And just like that Letty was sucked back into being infatuated with Dom.

After each of them belched loudly Dom relaxed back against the sofa, his shoulder touching with Letty's.

"This movie never get's old," he said as the credits started to roll. "You know there's going to be an encore showing tonight. You should come over, spend the night. Vince is coming, we can all chill, and have rematches in monopoly…because we everybody knows Mia traded you Park Place just so you had a chance to beat me."

Letty snorted. "Ha! That was a smart trade on her part. There was no scheming involved. I won fair and square……but sure I'll go stay the night and show you an encore of a butt whooping."

Dom rolled his eyes as he yawned and stretched his arms above his head. "Tonight will only prove that your win was a fluke, don't kid yourself." He got up from the couch and handed over the rest of the quilt he was hogging. "So I'll see you later on?"

Letty nodded, "yeah, might as well. I'm sure my mom has plans with her boyfriend anyway."

Letty stood up from the couch and wrapped herself in a cocoon like way and walked Dom to the front door. As he said bye he did something he'd never done before, he hugged her goodbye. If it not had been for the blanket Dom would have noticed Letty blushing. The last time she could remember when they touched at all was when he carried her on his back trying to outrun security at the tracks. She hoped this new found hugging would start to become a routine occurrence also.

When Dom left Letty felt an emotion that was typically displayed by Mia, all giddy. He hugged her and it was such a big deal to her. She could not wait to tell Mia all about it tonight. The rest of the day seemed to tick by excruciatingly slow. Letty was all too exciting to be within Dom's presence again. She decided, no matter what, that she would discuss the whole boyfriend girlfriend thing while watching the encore of Ghostbusters in his room. Knowing that Mia and Vince would sigh incredulously at the movie choice, she was most certain they'd be alone watching it.

After getting permission from her mother Letty packed overnight clothes in her backpack and quickly jogged over to the Toretto house. Everything was going perfect except for Dom. Throughout dinner he kept sporadically making phone calls or answering the phone as the calls came in. It was quite weird. It wasn't until after dinner, while setting up monopoly did everyone find out who Dom was talking to.

The door bell rang and then a light but firm knock came from the door. Dom immediately jumped to his feet first and scurried off to the front door. A few minutes later he returned carrying a small pink hello kitty duffle bag and Suki standing beside him.

"Hey guys, hope you don't mind the extra company," Suki greeted.

Vince quickly wiped the seat next to him. "Not at all……have a seat girl, right here."

She smiled and took a seat next to Vince and motioned for Dom to sit beside her.

"Hold on a sec, lemme go put your duffle bag up in my room," Dom told her before quickly trotting upstairs.

He was putting her duffle bag in his room. Was she going to sleep in his room? Without thinking Letty crunched the stack of play money Mia handed over to her. _Just freaking great, there goes my talk with Dom_, she thought. The night was already starting to take turns for the worse. She would have crumpled the money up a lot worse if Mia hand not nudged her to snap out of her angered trance. Letty sighed to herself and tried her best to focus on the game. It didn't work however, because four hours later Dom was rubbing his victorious win in her face.

"Told you it was a fluke," Dom teased triumphantly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah………whatever………you just got lucky," Letty said annoyed as she tossed the last of her money in his face.

Dom swatted it away as he chuckled. "Don't be a sore loser Letty."

"Yeah girl, take your ass whooping like a man," Suki added.

_Oh great, now she's joining in like she's a part of our inner circle_. Letty simply glared at her before leaving them to clean up the mess. She trudged upstairs straight to Mia's room to wait for her. As predicted it only took Mia a few seconds to follow her upstairs to start the gossip.

"Okay, what is she doing here?" Mia asked.

Letty threw her hands up in the air. "I have no idea, but she's getting on my nerves. Suddenly I find it very easy to hate her."

"And she's staying in my brother's room? What are they dating now or what?"

Letty shrugged. "I don't know anymore. I thought Dom just saw her as a friend but now I'm not so sure. And today he hugged me and it sparked all these weird feelings………and I was finally going to tell him………and then she shows up again. I wish she'd quick popping my bubble."

"You know Letty, I think you should just talk to my brother, and lay everything out there. That way you don't have torture yourself with this Suki girl," Mia suggested.

"I think you're right………it's all starting to get really exhausting."

After they took turns showering and dressed in their pajamas Mia called it a night while Letty padded across the hall and into Dom's room. He was sitting alone on the floor popping his VHS in the VCR. "Hey," she whispered.

He smiled. "You finally cool off from losing?"

She rolled her eyes and entered his room and sat beside him on the rug. "I wasn't mad."

He laughed, "you could have fooled me………besides it's a good thing you came, you're just in time for the second showing of Ghostbusters."

"You and this movie……when are you going to let it go," Letty said shaking her head.

"Probably never…"

Letty went silent for a few seconds before finally building up the courage to speak about something that's been on her mind for weeks. She cleared her throat. "Dom…… you don't see me as a little sister do you?"

He looked at her with a quirked eyebrow. "Um……no. Why? Do I treat you like one?"

"No, no, I was just……thinking……is all…you know……we've known each other awhile……and all the time we've been spending together………you see me as something more, right?" she asked looking away.

Dom answered with no hesitation. "Well of course I see you as something more……Letty, you've become like………my best friend……… in a cooler and somewhat better way than Vince. You consider me a best friend too right?"

Letty sighed. "Dom, that's not what I meant……I meant like a cou-"

She was about to say as a couple, as boyfriend and girlfriend, but her mouth stopped moving when he eyes caught sight of Dom's facial expression. Letty looked at him quizzically and briefly thought there something on her face or in her hair. Then she realized he was looking past her. She slowly turned her head wishing and hoping it wasn't the person she thought it was, but it was. Suki had just entered his room wearing a hot pink, hello kitty shorts that hugged her bottom, and white shirt that was just as tight. As she walked over to him and sat beside him his eyes followed her and his jaw slowly dropped more and more.

Letty cleared her throat in attempts to snap Dom out of his trance. "Calm down, boy," she whispered to him.

He shook his head and tried to play it off but it was so obvious he was staring that Suki started to giggle. "Uh……Letty…what were you saying?"

"Nothing," she said bitterly. "You gonna press play on this movie or what?"

"Yeah, yeah," he said quickly and reached to press the play button.

Letty rolled her eyes at Dom's wandering eyes and left the floor to flop down on his bed. Not wanting to watch any more of it she forced her eyes shut and entered an involuntary slumber. It was the sound of Dom's deepening, hoarse voice that woke her. She lazily fluttered her eyes open to see Dom poking at Suki's shoulder.

"Suki……Suki……" he whispered to her.

She groaned a couple times before lifting her head. "Yeah, what's up?"

"I made up the couch for you downstairs……trust me you don't want to sleep on this hard floor…… it'll mess up your back," he quietly stated.

She furrowed her brow as if she wasn't expecting this type of gesture. She looked puzzled and then shook it off before standing to her feet and leaving his room without as much as a goodnight or thank you. Letty smiled into the bed and quickly shut her eyes as Dom turned her way. When she heard his footsteps go out into the hall she opened her eyes again and sat up. She fell asleep for the entire movie. Knowing Dom, he was probably the only one that stayed awake to finish seeing it. As she yawned and rubbed her eyes Dom returned to his room with a few pillows, blankets, and some sheets.

"Hey, I was just going to-"

"Don't worry you don't have to kick me out, I was just getting up to go to Mia's," Letty cut him off immediately.

"No, I was going to say I was just going to cover you up with a shit and blanket, it gets cold in here," he corrected her.

"Oh," was all she managed to get out. It was gestures like this that confused Letty. One minute he was eyeing Suki like a delicious stake and the next he was nestled up with Letty on the sofa watching movies, or letting her sleep on his bed. _What is his deal_, she thought. Was he confused about the two of them? Too tired to dissect the situation further, she accepted her sheet and blanket and fell back asleep watching Dom lay out blankets on his bedroom floor.

These mixed gestures and signals continued throughout the week, all the way up to New Year's Eve, when a clear cut signal was telegraphed straight to Letty. It told her exactly what she needed to know. Letty's mother allowed her to bring in the New Year with Dom, Mia, Vince, and Mr. T. Plus, her mother had already made plans with her boyfriend and Letty didn't mind at all. Anthony even allowed Hector and Edwin to spend the night too. And it was no surprise to Letty that Suki was invited also. They had the living room and kitchen all to themselves. Anthony went to bed around 10:30pm, leaving the kids to stay up with processed sugary drinks, and junk food. Around 11:30pm Suki put some music and started dancing with Dom. As the clock ticked closer to 12, Suki and Dom appeared inseparable, and as the last second of the year ticked away so did any chance of Letty being Dom's girlfriend. She motioned gracefully toward the ceiling and his eyes gazed toward to where her finger pointed. Mistletoe. He grinned and looked down at her before inching his lips toward hers and engaging in a lengthy kiss. Letty sat and watched the action that initiated their relationship status to couple.

The next morning Letty was quiet. At the breakfast table her eyes held a blank stare and she merely pushed her breakfast around with her fork. Last night's ending was such a crushing and horrible way to bring in the New Year. She avoided Mia and all her worried stares. Reliving and talking about last night was something she did not want to start her morning off.

"Letty……are you okay?" Anthony asked in a concerned tone.

She lifted her head to meet his eyes. "Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Well……for starters you haven't touched any of your breakfast……and you don't look so well."

Letty drew in a deep breath before thinking of a lie. "I guess I just had too much soda and chips last night."

Letty forced out a fake laugh and passed her food over to Vince, who was more than willing to eat a fourth helping. She quickly went upstairs and gathered up her things and jogged downstairs. She headed straight for the front door and yelled her byes and said she'd be over later. When she got home she wasted no time in stepping under the hot spray of her shower. It was soothing and relaxed her. Letty just wanted to wash all the feelings she ever had for Dom. After quickly changing, she climbed into bed, and under the covers to sleep the day away. She wanted to avoid everyone.

It was the sound of loud giggles from her mother that woke Letty from her sleep. She sat upright and listened as a male joined in on the laughter. Great, she thought. Her mother's boyfriend was her. Letty was in no mood for social situations or fake being nice. She just wanted to be grumpy and bitter all by herself.

"Leticia," Anna called from downstairs.

Letty sighed and tied her thick tendrils in a messy bun. She walked over to her closet and put on some presentable clothes before going downstairs. "What's up, mom?"

"Michael and I are going out for lunch, you want to come? I'd really like if you come, so you and Michael can get to know each other," her mother told her.

Letty smiled at her mother's boyfriend. "Hey Michael, nice to meet ya," he nodded and smiled, "but if it's alright with you mom, I'd like to say home. I'm really tired from last night. Maybe we could do this another time, please."

Anna gave Letty a disapproving look and shook her head. "Fine, we'll be back in bit. Are you going over to Anthony's?"

"No, I'm going to stay home and get some more rest," she answered.

"Alright, well lock all the doors please," her mother instructed her before leaving with her boyfriend.

When they were gone Letty helped herself to a bowl of ice cream and trudged back upstairs to her room. She peered out her bedroom window to look down the street at the Toretto house. Hector an Edwin were getting picked up by their older cousins. Vince was lounging on the porch, while Suki and Dom were making out by the side of the house. Letty snapped shut her blinds in disgust and flopped down on her bed with ice cream.

While Letty was washing her ice bowl in the sink the phone rang. Thinking it was her father Letty sped off toward the phone and answered quickly. "Hello…"

To Letty's dismay it was Mia. Before Letty could say another word Mia bombarded her with questions about Dom and Suki, adding in snide remarks, and how much of an idiot Dom was. She meant well but Letty was in no mood to answer any questions or talk about Dom period. She needed to time to get over him. When Mia finally stopped talking to take a breather Letty took the opportunity to speak.

"Mia……I promise we'll talk tomorrow…… later," and she hung up the phone before Mia could protest.

Just as she was going to head back upstairs to keep her mind occupied the door bell rang followed by a knock. _Damn Mia you're fast_, she thought.

"Mia, I told you I'll talk to you tomorrow," Letty yelled as she walked to the front door.

She swiftly swung it open and was ready to send Mia away went she froze up. The person on the other side of the door wasn't Mia at all, not even a kid. The sight of the camouflage uniform made her eyes sparkle. The stitched letter's forming the word Ortiz made cheeks lift into a huge smile. The sight of her father's face made her run into his warm and loving arms. She reflexively wrapped her arms and legs around her father she missed irrevocably.

"Dad, you have no idea, but you have perfect timing," she said in the crook of his neck as she squeezed her father tightly.

* * *

**A/N: **I vaguely remember watching 2 fast 2 furious, so if my characterization of Suki is way off then my apologies to her fans. I thought it would be interesting to add her in the mix. And don't worry things are going to look up for Letty. The story and her attitude is going to take an interesting turn, so I hope you guys like it. Let me know what you think.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Fast and the Furious or its characters. No copyright infringement intended. This fictitious work is for entertainment purposes only.

**Author's Note: **Sorry it took so long to update, that busy ole thing life randomly happens. And since it took so long I've merged chapter nine with eight, so it's terribly long. Hope you like it nonetheless and thanks to all the people who have stuck around to read and especially review. A very special thank you goes out to them. I should also mention in chapters to come expect time jumps. Nothing dramatic but little jumps to get things moving a long to more mature stages for the characters.

* * *

He promised he would come in January and he did – the very first day of the month – which made his visit that much more special to Letty. It had been far too long for her liking since she'd seen her father, so she squeezed him a little tighter to make sure it wasn't a dream. The presence of her father seemed to dissolve away all her troubles and any existence of relationships with or involving Dom. Everything from his mixed signals to his recent make out sessions with Suki were a thing of the past now. The New Year was beginning to start off perfect after all.

When their embrace finally broke Letty's father backed away a few inches so he could get a good look at his daughter. She'd gotten significantly taller, her features slightly maturing, and her hair had grown rather lengthy since he had last seen her. He flashed her a loving smile before finally speaking.

He gently caressed her cheek. "Mija, I've missed you so much……and look at you……you're growing up so fast."

She offered her father a warm smile, "I missed you too."

After their long greeting they took their little powwow inside. Letty gave her father the grand tour of her house and her room. She informed him about her close relationship with the Torettos' and Vince, and all the new things she learned about cars – everything from repairs to new trinkets. It put a huge smile on her father's face to know that his little girl was handing the separation so well. When Letty mentioned Anthony, the way she talked about him and that he taught her the latest new methods in repairs and cars in general, he felt an anguish of jealousy. She had mentioned him before and how he let her hang around his garage, but the fascination in which she spoke of Anthony pricked his heart. Cars, fixing them, and learning about them was their special father daughter occasion. He couldn't really blame her though, his daughter possessed an obsession of cars that was quite massive, and if it helped dealing with being so far away from each other, or kept her happy, then in the end it was alright with him.

"So how long are you staying?" Letty asked eagerly.

"Exactly one week," he answered.

Letty smiled excitedly, "I wish it was longer, but I'll take it………so what do you want to do?"

"Well first I have to check into a motel and rent a car if we want to get around," he told her.

"A motel? Why stay at a motel? You can stay here………mom already said it was fine," she assured him.

Her father arched one eye brow, "Really? She said – your mother – that I could stay here?"

Letty giggled. "I know, I was surprised too, but she really did say it was fine if you stayed here."

He flashed Letty a crooked smile. "Mija, I dunno if it's a good idea that I stay here……me and your mom we don't –"

"Dad……please, I haven't seen you in forever, and it would really suck if you stayed away from me in the same city…… so please stay here," she pleaded.

He smile and moved a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "Alright," he said softly. "So how about you tell me more about your friends over some lunch?"

"Sounds good pop…… just let me get dressed," she said quickly before scurrying off into her closet.

As Letty ran off to get dressed for their outing, her dad occupied himself by lightly treading around the house. He started with her room. As expected she continued to have a vast collection of car magazines, along with toy models, in which she built all by herself. He took a moment to look at all the pictures she had taped to her wall and some that were special enough to make it to a few picture frames. In each one she looked completely blissful, without a care in the world, and it only made him happy to see his daughter that way. After studying the faces of Dom, Vince, Mia, and Anthony, he could tell his daughter's quaint group of friends looked like a good bunch. He was particularly glad that she finally became such great friends with a girl. Since she was a small toddler she never quite meshed well with girls her age.

After a few light chuckles from some of the pictures, Letty's father returned the picture frames to their exact spots. He dropped his duffle bag next to his daughter's bed before making his way to the hall and down the stairs. He couldn't help himself from smiling at how his ex-wife still decorated houses the same way. Everything from the religious crosses and pictures of the Virgin Mary, all the way down to the doilies that peppered the couches and coffee tables brought back memories of his life with her and Letty in Mexico. He heaved a deep breath and let it out slow and tried to remember that everything happens for a reason. As he made his way into the kitchen he came across more photos on the refrigerator, most of them were of Letty and her friends, but there was one in particular that caught his eye. It was one of Anna and who he assumed was her new boyfriend. There was something about the picture that made his heart absolutely twinge. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it was something, maybe the unfamiliar gleeful smile she wore on her face, or the way she was extremely affectionate with the man in the picture.

Before he could examine the picture further he heard the front door unlock and swing open. He left the refrigerator and casually leaned against the door frame of the kitchen as he watched Anna and her boyfriend waltz around like teenagers in love. He cleared his throat loud enough to get their attention.

Anna flinched at the sound and turned to face who made the sound. "Juan," she croaked out.

Juan smiled at the flustered and surprised expression his ex-wife wore on her face. It was clear that after everything they'd been through she was still immensely attracted to him, especially in his uniform. She always loved when he was clean cut, shaven, with a flat top. The muscle he acquired from military training didn't hurt either. He got an even greater kick out of the boyfriend straighten himself out to attempt to look tough. He assumed her boyfriend was slightly intimidated by the military uniform.

"Anna," he said formally and nodded his head. "It's been quite some time…… how have you been?"

She took a deep breath in attempts to try and suppress her flustered cheeks and fumbled her purse when she tried to set it down on the end table. She sighed, "I'm doing great……never been better actually."

"That's good to hear…I'm glad," he politely said as he walked his way over to Letty, who was quietly snooping behind them. He wrapped his arms around his daughters shoulder. "Well, me and Letty are gonna head out……Anna would you mind if we used your car?"

"Uh…no… here," she said as she rummaged through her purse to retrieve them.

He turned his attention to Letty, "Mija, get the keys from your mom, I'm gonna go change out of this uniform." And he trudged upstairs to her room.

Letty quickly went to get the keys from her mother and decided to wait for her dad on the porch. She could sense some tension between her mother and Michael. From the looks of it he wasn't exactly excited or approving of her dad showing up or staying here. Right as Letty was closing the front door she could hear her mother and her boyfriend silently arguing.

Juan hurriedly entered Letty's room and retrieved his duffle bag. He unzipped it and pulled out a pair of dark denim jeans, a gray long sleeved thermal shirt, and black converse shoes. After dressing into civilian clothes he smiled as he laced up his shoes. He remembered when he first introduced them to Letty as a toddler, and was glad she still presently liked them. He slid up his sleeves a few inches and began neatly and tightly folding his uniform into his bag – just another habit picked up courtesy of the military. When he finished he treaded lightly downstairs where Anna and her boyfriend Michael were in a quiet, yet heated discussion.

Letty sat on the steps to her porch fiddling with the car keys as she waiting for her dad. She was going over in her mind all the places they could go and activities they could do together, including the people she wanted him to meet. As she was flipping through the newspaper to check the show times of the newest movies she heard footsteps approaching. Her eyes peeked over the top of the paper to see Mia. She folded it and sat it down beside her.

Mia sighed sympathetically. "Letty……I'm……I'm sorry. I can't believe Dom is with Suki……you must feel awf-"

"Nah, I don't feel awful. Besides, that's old news……guess what the new news is?" Letty interrupted eagerly.

Mia eyed Letty suspiciously. The change in her mood completely flabbergasted her. "Uh…I dunno…but tell me already."

Just as Letty was about to speak the front door opened revealing an unfamiliar face to Mia. Before her curiosity could ask Letty who exactly that was, it was answered for her. "Mia……I want you to meet my dad," she squealed out ecstatically.

Mia's mouth almost dropped. "Holy crap, your dad is here? When did he get here?"

"Like twenty minutes ago," she answered quickly.

"Oh my god, how cool is that," Mia continued as if it was just her and Letty standing on the porch.

Letty's father watched with amusement as the girls went back and forth on their short but detailed conversation about him showing up. When their conversation finished Mia face him and extended her hand to him.

"Hi Mr Ortiz, I'm Mia – one of Letty's best friends – it's so nice to finally meet you." she introduced ever so politely. "Letty talks about you all the time."

Juan gently shook her hand and smiled. "It's nice to meet you as well. Letty has told me all about you." He liked Mia's formality. Her etiquette wasn't for show or to impress. He could easily tell her kindness was genuine, something very rare to find in people. It only made him glad his daughter was surrounding herself with such good people. "Letty and I were just about to head out. Do you want to join us?"

Letty was motioning to Mia to shake her head yes. "Sure, I'd love to. I just have to get permission from my dad really quick. I'll be right back."

Mia ran down the street and raced inside to find her father. "Hey dad, guess what? Letty's dad is here visiting. How cool is that? Anyway, they invited me to tag along. So can I go? He seems super nice. But yeah can I go?"

Anthony set down the newspaper and eyed his daughter. Boy could she talk, he thought. "That's alright with me. But I'll walk you over so I can meet the man himself."

"Letty's dad is here? If Mia get's to tag along, I want to also," Vince interrupted as he walked out of the kitchen with a bowl of ice cream.

Anthony simply chuckled as he returned to reading his paper. He really did get a kick out of these kids.

Mia dressed into warm clothes to accommodate the cooling weather and trekked downstairs quickly.

"Alright, I'm ready, let's go dad," she yelled from the front door.

Anthony folded his newspaper and set it down on the table. He walked over to the hall closet to retrieve his coat. "Hey where is your brother?" he asked Mia.

"I dunno."

Vince came from the kitchen and answered him. "He went over Suki's house. He said he'd be back later." He zipped up his hooded and headed out the door with Mia and Anthony.

Letty and her father were looking under the hood of her mother's falling apart car when they heard footsteps approaching. They both peered over the hood and walked around the car to greet Mia, Vince, and Anthony.

Juan immediately extended his hand to Anthony. He took it in his and squeezed firmly. "Hi, I'm Jaun, Letty's father. Nice to finally meet you."

"Likewise," Anthony said as he retracted his hand. "Letty has told us all about you. Nice to meet another mechanic."

After initial introductions of everyone were made Juan and Anthony engaged into conversation over the hood of Anna's car. Anthony was blown away by Juan's knowledge of cars, something he had not seen in any of his guys at the garage shop. It was quite the change of pace in conversation about cars. Most of the time it was spent teaching others so it was finally nice to partake in conversation where it was simple or where he was the one learning about cars. By the end of the conversation Anthony insisted that instead of bringing the kids home they'd stop by DT automotive instead. Juan – who was equally impressed by Anthony's vast knowledge of cars – gladly obliged.

"Alright, have fun you guys," Anthony waved as they climbed into Anna's car. "When you stop by the garage you'll be my eldest, Dominic."

Juan nodded and they drove off into the streets of Los Angeles. "So what does everyone want to do first?" he asked.

"A movie," Letty suggested.

"Or shopping," Mia added.

"Let's have lunch before any of that," Vince proposed.

Mia frowned at Vince. "Lunch? You've got to be kidding me……you just got done eating a massive bowl of ice cream, and who knows what else. Your stomach can manage through a few hours of shopping or a movie."

Vince rolled his eyes. "Whatever, I vote for _lunch._"

Juan smiled and chuckled a few times as their back and forth arguing and banter continued as he drove.

"How about we grab some burgers and fries, and then head to the movies," he offered, and added, "and then afterwards we'll do a little shopping……How does that sound?"

Vince responded first, "Fine by me, just as long as we eat something. Fat Burger is a great restaurant. I'm just sayin."

The two girls nodded in agreement as Letty's dad pulled into Fat Burger. They ordered cheeseburgers, fries, sodas, and milkshakes, and then got situated at a table to wait for their food. Everyone immediately immersed into conversation. Vince was fascinated by the fact that Letty's dad was in the army. He asked all kinds of questions from the traveling to the training they provided with and without weapons. And the fact that he shared an obsession with cars made him all the more likable. Mia stayed away from any topics involving cars. She was around them and heard about them twenty-four-seven at home and she wasn't about to waste her questions on cars. Instead, she asked about Hawaii – everything from its climate and beautiful sandy beaches, all the way to the people and their culture. While Mia and Vince asked their questions silence fell upon Letty. She listened and watched with a proud smile on her face. It made her happy to know that her friends found her dad equally amazing as she did. And when she did join in on the conversation it was to joke around or share a story from when she was much smaller.

After taming their growling stomachs they ventured over to the movie theater to catch the latest horror flick. Juan purchased the tickets while Letty, Vince, and Mia ran off to the arcade. Letty had her eyes set to play Metal Slug II, Mia ran off to feed her quarters to the rigged machines full of stuffed animals, while Vince sauntered toward whatever shooting game was there. After ten minutes of individual playing they all met up and swarmed the Street Fighter arcade game, each of them challenging one another. It was no surprise to either of them that Juan and Letty ended up being undefeated, until they played each other - with Letty barely winning with little health left.

Ten minutes before the movie was to start they got out their tickets and handed them to the ticket taker. It was pretty packed but there were four seats available - all together - up top and in the middle of the row. All four of them quickly jogged up the stairs to claim them before anyone else could. Letty and Mia took the two seats in the middle while Juan and Vince took the seats on the side of them. As the lights dimmed and the typical creepy musical melody horror movies often played began Letty and her father held the same expression - intrigued. They both were simply enamored with horror movies and made it a ritual to watch one every Friday night when they lived together. As the movie progressed they only got more and more excited and thrilled about the plots, twist, and surprises. Mia, however, spent half the time covering her eyes, saying "eww" or clutching to Vince's arm. Vince found it all so amusing.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Suki kissed Dom one last time through the car window before finally letting him go inside his house.

"Call ya later," she yelled out to him as her friend drove off down the street.

Dom simply nodded before climbing the porch steps and walking inside. He treaded lighting through the living room and into the kitchen to get something to eat. He opened the fridge and eyed the contents it held before finally settling on a ham and cheese sandwich. He pulled out the lunch meat and all the condiments he liked before assembling it. Just as he bit into his sandwich his dad appeared through the side door.

"It's about time you came home. Next time you leave I'd like to hear it from you first, not Vince," he told him sternly.

"Sorry pop," he said will his mouth full of sandwich. "So where is everyone?"

Anthony walked over to put on his coat and grabbed his keys. "Letty's father is in town visiting her. He took her out to spend some time with her and Mia and Vince went along with them."

Dom stopped chewing when his dad mentioned Letty's father and swallowed his sandwich so his mouth could go agape at Mia and Vince tagging along. He suddenly felt mad at Suki for pushing him to go over her house. He really didn't want to but she kept on insisting so he complied. And as great as his first time felt, he would have gladly held out a lot longer if it meant he was there to see Letty brighten up at the sight of her father. He was mentally kicking himself so hard he didn't hear his father continuing to talk.

"Dominic!" his father yelled loudly.

"Huh? Oh sorry, pop....what did you say?" he asked as though he was dazed.

Anthony eyed his son quizzically. "Have you been drinking?"

"What? Why would you think I've been drinking? I'm fine," he answered quickly. If he ever picked up a beer before the age of twenty one his father would whip his butt red.

His father narrowed his eyes. "Alright.....now come on let's go. I told Letty's father to meet us up at the shop. Let's get a move on."

Dom shoved the rest of his sandwich in his mouth and poured himself a glass of punch before following his dad outside to his car. As they rode in silence Dom sporadically sipped his drink, whishing the liquid around to wash down any pieces of bread that stuck to his teeth. For reasons he couldn't quite understand he wanted to make a good impression on Letty's father.

When they finally reached the shop Letty, her dad, Vince, and Mia were already outside waiting.

Anthony tossed Dom the keys, "Go open up."

Dom picked up the keys and slid out of the car. He waved over to Letty and smiled at her. She looked utterly blissful and proud that her father was here. "What's up guys?"

"Bro, you missed out on one hell of an outing," Vince informed Dom as he patted his back.

"I bet I did," he answered as he unlocked the garage. As Anthony drove into the shop Dom approached Letty and her father. "Hi, I'm Dom, one of Letty's good friends, if not best friend," he said smirking at her.

Letty merely chuckled light heartedly. "Whatever you say, Dom."

Due to the fact that it was New Year's Day and most people assumed all places were closed there were no customers. The entire time at the shop was spent horsing around or getting to know Letty's father. Juan and Anthony spent a lot of time talking about the Dodge Charger and possible additions it could attain. While the adults talked and tinkered with the Charger in sheer fascination the younger generation went into the office to relax.

As Vince filled Dom in on the last details of his day with Letty and her dad he sighed. He was a little jealous that he wasn't one of the first people to meet her father. He considered his relationship with Letty to be above Vince's and Mia's, a lot more special. As the conversation wore on he tried not to let him visibly bother him. When silence of the day's events fell upon them Vince took the opportunity to pester Dom with questions about him and Suki.

"So when did you and Suki start dating?" Vince asked with a devious smile spread across his face.

Dom shook his head. Sometimes Vince would ask questions and crave details like a girl. "I dunno, a few weeks I guess. She's a cool chick, I like her a lot."

Mia sort of winced as those words left her brother's mouth. She glanced over at Letty to see the affect they had on her. She expected to see a roll of her eyes, a sigh of disgust or frustration, but to her surprise Letty appeared completely unaffected. It slightly took Mia back that she could be over her brother so quickly, but as long as she wasn't sad, she was alright with it.

"I like her too. You two make a good couple," Letty announced truthfully. "You should invite her to more of our outings."

Mia eyes went so wide by Letty's statements that it looked like they were on the verge of falling out of the sockets.

"Sheesh Mia, what's with the look? I thought you liked Suki," her brother asked incredulously.

"Huh? No I'm not doing it because of her-I just-I just forgot that I have this huge project due tomorrow," she lied quickly.

Dom arched one of his eyebrows. "Mia, I love you…but you're such a nerd."

As Mia regained her composure the conversation continued. She noticed how Letty abruptly changed back into just being Dom's best friend again. She found it quite odd but decided not to press her about it with her dad being present. And she figured if her brother was dumb enough to pass her over then he didn't deserve her at all. As time wore on it was no surprise that Anthony invited Letty's dad back to the house for dinner. They both got along really well, almost like brothers. Anthony even offered Juan a car to borrow from his garage for the remainder of his visit.

After finishing a classic Anthony Toretto dinner, Letty and her father finally ventured home. As they drove the short drive down the street they saw that Anna's boyfriend was finally leaving. Their conversation about Letty's father staying at their house must have been settled because he appeared to be in a good mood and even waved hello and goodbye to them. When they walked inside her mother had just finished making the couch up for her father to sleep on.

"If you get cold there's extra blankets in the hall closet," she informed Letty's father. "Goodnight."

He just nodded and watched as she said and kissed Letty goodnight.

When she disappeared upstairs they both ventured into the kitchen to build enormous ice cream sundaes as their dessert. They both changed into comfortable clothes and nestled comfortably on the couch and began watching Letty's small collection of action and horror movies. Thirty minutes into the fourth movie Letty's eyes slowly started to close. Her father smiled down at her as she engaged in a peaceful slumber. There were no words to explain how great or how happy he was to be around his daughter again. It only made him miss her that much more. He took both bowls to the kitchen sink, returned and turned off the TV. He effortlessly scooped Letty up into his arms and carried her up the stairs, into her room.

As he gently laid Letty down into her bed her eyes lazily fluttered open. "Dad…"she began, her voice thick with sleep, "do you think I can miss school……just for the days that you're here."

He smiled down at his daughter as tucked her tightly in bed. "I want to yeah, but with your mom letting me stay here, let's not press out luck. I promise I'll drive you and pick you up on time though."

Letty sleepily sighed and shut her eyes, "Fine."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"I'll call you back, my dad is grilling me about cleaning up," Dom said through the phone to Suki. "Bye."

He placed the phone back on the receiver and sauntered back into the kitchen with his father. "What do you want me to clean up?"

"Wash the rest of the dishes and be sure to take out the trash when you're done," he answered.

"Alright," he responded unenthusiastically.

Dom walked over to the counter and looked at the remaining pile of dishes and crinkled his nose in disgust. He didn't understand how six people accumulated so many plates and glasses. He reluctantly ran the hot water and squeezed a generous amount of dish soap and watched as the sink became filled with suds. He shut off the water and dumped all the dishes into the sink. As he wished and washed plates and silverware his mind drifted off to Letty. All the stories she told about how great her dad was, was completely true. Know he knew where Letty got some of characteristics and sense of style with shoes. And after meeting and hanging out with him tonight he was eager to learn new techniques that he learned abroad while in the military. In Dom's eyes Juan was just as cool as his own father, almost like a duplicate.

When he finished putting away the dishes Dom gathered up all the garbage and emptied it into the trash cans on the side of the house. On his way back inside he glanced down the street to Letty's house. He saw the light on in the living room and wondered what she was doing. Instinctively he trekked inside and straight to the phone to call her house. He missed hanging out with Letty. The past couple of weeks had been pretty much all Suki. Not that he minded too much, but he missed his and Letty's alone time in his room or their own outings to the movies or pizza parlor. There were only certain personal things he could discuss with Letty, like how much he missed his mom. He quickly dialed her number and waited for her to answer. It rang and rang about seven times before he decided to finally hang up. He figured she passed out watching TV with her dad.

Completely forgetting to call Suki back, Dom trudged upstairs, took a hot lengthy shower and headed to bed.

The next morning Dom was woken up by a half asleep Mia. "Dom," she croaked out.

"Ugh, what Mia? I'm trying to sleep here," he groaned out from under his blanket.

"Me too, but the phone would not stop ringing, it's Suki, now go get the phone so she can stop calling," Mia said angrily as she stomped out of his room and back to her bed.

He sighed before kicking the blanket off of his body. He carefully walked downstairs and into the kitchen to get the phone. Just as he was going to place it on his ear he remembered he forgot to call her back last night after he finished cleaning up. _Oh crap_, he thought.

"Hey, Suki," he said into the receiver, his voice heavily permeating sleep.

He shook his head at how utterly wrong that went and couldn't believe how upset she was over not getting a phone call. It seemed quite childish that she didn't let him explain or even properly apologize. She automatically jumped to conclusions and assumed he was talking to other girls. Well, if Letty had answered her phone, it technically would have been true, but it was just Letty, he thought. Rather than bother calling her back and hear her nag him he put the ringer to the phone on low and went back upstairs to bed.

A few hours later he was woken by a light knock on his door. Having acquired a generous amount of sleep and feeling well rested he sprung up from his bed and answered the knock on his door amiably. The figure standing on the other side of his door slightly caught him off guard. "Hey, what's going on Letty?"

A few hours later he was woken by a light knock on his door. Having acquired a generous amount of sleep and feeling well rested he sprung up from his bed and answered the knock on his door amiably. The figure standing on the other side of his door slightly caught him off guard. "Hey, what's going on Letty?"

"Good afternoon to you too," she greeted, "we're going to go race……go karts, you wanna come?"

"Definitely, now I can show off the driving skills my dad has been teaching me," Dom said pretentiously.

Letty smirked and took it as a challenge before walking back across the hall and into Mia's room. Dom quickly gathered up some jeans, a shirt, and a hoodie, before jumping in the shower. It took him less than ten minutes to get dressed and as he laced up his shoes he met Letty going down the stairs.

"You gonna invite Suki?" Letty asked randomly. She looked up at Dom's uncertain face. "I think you should."

Dom sighed as he remembered this morning's conversation with Suki. "I dunno, we kind f had an argument this morning. I think the last person she wants to talk to is me. She's pretty mad."

Letty chuckled as she nudged him teasingly on his side, "already messing up, huh?"

"Shut up," he said as he playfully narrowed his eyes toward Letty.

"But seriously, you should call her, apologize, and at least invite it. She's a cool girl, you shouldn't mess it up with her," Letty said earnestly.

Dom paused at the last step and watched as Letty walked out the front door. She was right, so before heading to the car his dad loaned Juan he jogged over to the phone and dialed Suki's number. First he asked if she was still mad and then went on to apologize. Even though he thought it was silly he still did it because it hurt her feelings. When he felt she was in a better mood he invited her just like Letty said to, but she politely declined. Before their conversation continued on with its lovey dovey tone, the horn from the car outside had Dom hanging up rather quickly. Without wasting any more time he said goodbye to his dad and slide into the car with Vince, Mia, Letty, and her father.

Of all the activities they were surrounded by – mini golf, batting cages, arcades, and bowling – the go karts held and kept their attention for hours. Mia and Vince each won a race, but it was Letty and Dom who dominated the small track. By the time the "final" race of the day approached they were tied in wins six to six, so this race was going to be the deciding factor on who was the better racer, at least for now.

All four of them lined up their thirty mile-per-hour karts and anxiously waited for the signal lights to turn green. When the lights changed informing them to go, Letty and Dom sped off as if they were the only two on the speed way. They remained neck and neck through straight paths but at certain turns one would momentarily take the lead, but it didn't take long for them to become tied again. It wasn't until it the final turn that one of them saw an opening and took it. Letty saw a small gap and slammed her foot into the gas pedal to take the lead and cross the finish line with a broad grin spread across her face. Victory was indeed sweet.

Letty unbuckled her seat belt and hopped out of the kart. She walked over to Dom with a huge smirk spread across her face and placed her hand behind her ear. "What's that? I'm sorry I didn't hear. Where's all that smack you were talking?"

Dom did his best to fight back his smile. "Shut up," he grunted.

"Hahahaha! Now that's skill…skills of a natural driver. You know maybe I should be the one teaching you how to drive," Letty boasted.

He let out a small chuckle, even though it was slightly true. She drove like a natural. He could tell when her turn came to get behind the wheel of a real car with a real engine she'd do more than fine. "Don't get ahead of yourself Letty, it's one win, calm down."

Letty waved off his comment with hand. "Whatever, don't try to degrade my win. It's winning remember, doesn't matter if it's once or one hundred times."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know the rules," he muttered.

After Mia and Vince were done grilling Dom about losing to Letty they finally ventured inside to eat something. They even played a few games where Dom tried to dominate in a few fighting games, but failed, only to lose to Mia this time – who hilariously pressed all the buttons at the same time. Before they left Mia, Vince, Dom, and Letty all piled into a photo machine to take silly pictures. Afterward Letty and father went in by themselves to take their own pictures.

When Dom got back home Letty made him call Suki back. He even invited her over to hang out for their final night off before school they had to return to school.

Much to Letty's delight, Juan took over the duty of driving everyone to school when it went back in session. He was even promptly on time when picking them up. Each day Letty would beg her father to stay home with him but she never won that battle. But it only made her cherish the time afterschool and all the time they spent together. The only day of school she was allowed to miss was the day her father had to return back to his base. That day her eyes remained glistening with tears throughout. Anna drove Juan to the airport with Letty snuggled tightly next to him, trying with all her might to keep her tears from spilling over from her eyes. The closer they came to the airport the tighter her grasp became. As they exited the car Letty held her father's hand tightly and when it came time to part at the security check point her heart melted. The tears she had fought so hard to keep within her eyes finally pored over.

Juan knelt down onto to one knee so that he was within eye level with Letty. "Oh mija," he began as he wiped her tear stained cheeks clean, "this isn't goodbye. I promise I'll try to come back as soon as I can. Okay?"

Letty merely nodded and sniffled through her sobs.

"I love you……give me a huge hug," he ordered as he opened up his arms for her embrace.

Without any hesitation she ran into her father's arms and held onto him for dear life. She inhaled deeply, taking in his scent to memorize it again. She let her breath out slow as they slowly pulled away. Letty did her best to smile at her father but her crying turned into more of a frown. "I love you too dad," she whispered and watched as he reluctantly walked through security, and toward his plane.

The ride back home was filled with silent sobs from the back seat. Letty's mom would occasionally look back at her through the rearview mirror to make sure she was alright and offer a comforting smile. As Anna pulled into the driveway of their home Anthony was just returning from picking up his gang from school. Letty ignored Vince's yelled from the down the street as she trekked up the porch steps and inside the house.

"Don't take it personal V, she just misses her dad already," Mia informed him.

"Yeah," Vince sighed. "Hopefully she'll swing by later though."

As Mia, Vince, and Anthony went inside Dom and Suki remained outside. He was peering down the street with a concerned look on his face, wondering exactly how Letty was holding up. He knew she would refuse if he tried to go over and talk to her or attempt to comfort her, but it didn't stop him from wanting to.

"So…," Suki interrupted his thoughts, "do you want to go in the basement to _study_, or you wanna go upstairs to your room and watch a movie?"

"Maybe a little later. I think I'm gonna go over and see if Letty is alright," he told her. "Here, do you mind taking in my backpack?"

Suki gave him an incredulous look. "Are you serious? I come over your house after school and you want to go over Letty's house by yourself? That's a joke, right?"

Dom looked at Suki quizzically. He thought she understood his close relationship with Letty. "Um, yeah. Letty's one of my best friends, she's pretty bummed right now, and I want to go see if she's alright. If she wants to talk. That's what best friends do, they're there for each other, you know?"

She heaved a heavy sigh. "Look, I have a dad who is in the military too. Letty will deal and get over it. So come on let's go up to your room."

Dom was in utter disbelief. "_You_ can go up to my room if you want, but _I'm_ gonna go see Letty."

He walked away from Suki without looking back, but he heard her sigh disapprovingly and trudge up the steps to his porch and slam the front door. He ignored it and continued his gait toward Letty's house. He knocked firmly until someone answered. To his surprise Letty answered the door.

"Hey Letty," he greeted nervously, uncertain to how she was going to react.

"Hey, what's up?" she said flatly. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, I just came by to see how you're holding up. I know you're dad left today so-"

"Look Dom, I'm dealing alright. I'll be okay. You can go back to home, I think I just need today for myself," she told him bluntly.

"No," he told her stubbornly. "I'm coming in." And he pushed open the door and walked in passing her.

She rolled her eyes at his actions and shut the front door before joining him in the living room.

"You're a really stubborn, you know that?" she said as she sat beside him on the sofa.

"Likewise," he said with a smirk and to his surprise she smiled. "So, I know you're feeling pretty crappy because you're dad had to leave but-"

"Crappy is a bit of an understatement," she interjected. "It's beyond crappy."

He looked at Letty as she stared at the wall trying to fight back her lips and steady her bottom lip from quivering. "Hey, it's okay. If you want to cry, go ahead. It's okay to cry Letty; you don't have to hold it in. You miss your dad, I understand." He patted his shoulder, "Come on, and just let it out."

She looked over at him and gave him a half smile before resting her head on his shoulder and crying. As she wept for missing her father Dom wrapped an arm around her, occasionally running his fingers through her hair.

"Even though it was just a week, I got so used to him being here. It reminded me of when we were a family. There seriously is nothing like having two parents," She blurted out randomly.

"Yeah, I know. Tell me about it," Dom agreed as he remembered and missed his own mother. "But shutting down doesn't help. It's better to keep busy, you know. And it's not like you'll never see your dad again. If he said he'll come back soon, then he will. He seems like the type of guy who keeps his word."

The two of them sat in silence for a few more moments before finally separating from each other's embrace.

"I'm gonna head home now. Suki is over there waiting for me, plus I'm starving and my dad is making chicken carbanara. You wanna come?" he offered.

"Alright," she accepted. "I gotta apologize to V, anyway. I did hear him yell from the down street."

She grabbed her sweater from the closet and walked with him down the street. When she walked through the door she saw Suki sitting on the couch flipping through channels. The expression painted on her face looked like one of annoyance. When Suki looked up from the TV she gave both her and Dom a death glare. Letty did her best to ignore it and walked over to the kitchen to find Mia helping her dad with dinner.

"Hey Letty, good to see you. I'm sorry to hear your dad had to go back soon, he's a good guy to have around," Anthony greeted.

She smiled. "Thanks Mr T."

"You hungry? You better be because I just got done helping my dad make tons of pasta and chicken," Mia stated.

"Starving," Letty answered as she helped her set the table for dinner.

As her and Mia began setting napkins and silverware they both heard Suki and Dom raising their voices in the living room.

"What's that all about?" Mia asked startlingly.

"Not sure," Letty responded as she tried to strain her hearing. "But it might be about me. Suki gave me this mean ole look when I walked through the door."

Mia dropped the reaming forks in her hands. "Seriously? Oh, do tell."

Letty chuckled. "There's nothing to tell. But my guess is she's mad that Dom went over my house instead of staying here with her. And to be honest I really can't blame the girl."

"What? Why? It's just you, Letty. I mean you're having a bum day, what's wrong with going over and trying to cheer you up?" Mia asked confused.

"Come on Mia, you're telling me if you went over your boyfriend's house and he left to go to another girl's house, you wouldn't be a little pissed off?" Letty asked, arching one eyebrow in the process.

Mia took a moment to think about it. "Well………I guess I would be a little mad."

Before either of them could finish gossiping they both fell silent as Dom and Suki walked in and took a seat the table. This time Suki's expression was different, a lot more approachable, and polite. She even offered smiles to both Mia and Letty. However, they both sensed it was a façade, for show to put on in front of Dom's dad. When the two girls finished setting the table they went back into the kitchen to help Anthony bring out the food and breadsticks. The conversation was light, mostly talking about the first day back from winter break, and all the homework they had.

It was during cleaning up that Letty pulled Dom aside to talk to him.

"So, judging by the way Suki gave me the death glare when I walked she was pretty mad that you changed your plans and went over my house. Not cool, Dom. Just you don't have to change your plans with Suki or hold them off because I'm having a bad day, okay? Suki is a cool girl; don't start messing up on my account." Letty explained quickly.

Dom looked at her for a moment and smiled. "Letty, shut up. Besides, life has a way of changing one's plans."

Before she could say anything else he walked away to join Suki, Vince, and Mia in the living room to watch a movie. Letty smiled and followed him and took a seat next Vince. Their encounter today only made her glad that she chose to give up on Dom being her boyfriend. She wouldn't ever want to sacrifice how close they were as friends by chancing it by being boyfriend and girlfriend. She was finally content with how they were.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Eventually, Suki got over Dom's friendship antics and things returned to normal and back to a great relationship, at least for awhile anyway. As months wore on there were moments where Dom preferred to only share things with Letty, such as the exact date when his mother died or when he needed to vent in general. It was becoming so much for Suki that she started to become jealous of Letty. And as always it was Letty who convinced and told Dom to fix the situation every time. There were moments when it started to become too much for all three of them. On some occasions the tension between Dom, Suki, and Letty was so intense that anyone within close proximity could sense it. As the troubles continued on through summer Letty suggested to Dom that he refrain from always running to her if he wanted his relationship with Suki to survive. Feeling completely torn Dom decided not to give up either and settled on clandestine meetings with Letty throughout the summer.

It wasn't until the night before Dom was to start his first day of high school that Suki found out. Instead of having her friend drive her straight home, she had her park down the street behind a car so she could do some sneaky spy work. Much to her dismay she saw her boyfriend jogging across the street toward Letty's house.

"Asshole," she breathed out angrily.

Rather than go home she had her friend drop her off in front of the Toretto house. She sat on the porch and began to wait. An hour elapsed, and just when she was going to give up and call home, she saw Dom walking down the street toward her direction. She sat straight up and all the anger that dissipated while she was waiting instantly returned. When Dom made it to the walk way of his house his eyes caught site of Suki. Seeing her sitting on the porch and the expression that was plastered on her face told him everything. He drew in a deep breath and slowly walked toward her. He knew he was in for an epic battle tonight.

Suki stood from where she was sitting and folded her arms across her chest. "Did you have fun?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:** I know I haven't updated for months, but long story short, laptop broke and bye bye stories. Hopefully all the loyal readers/reviewers are still checking for the story because I'm currently re-writing everything. Maybe it'll come out better. And, expect things to speed up. Hope you enjoy :)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Fast and Furious or its characters. No copyright infringement is intended. This fictitious work is for entertainment purposes only.

* * *

Dom heaved a heavy sigh as he tried to ignore Suki's questions. "Look, we need to talk-"

"Yeah we do," she quickly interjected. "What the hell, Dominic? You've been lying to me! You've been seeing Letty behind my back. You're such a liar!"

Dom clenched his jaw at the tone her voice held. Her attitude irritated him beyond belief. He briefly wondered why he stuck around this long. "And I shouldn't have to sneak around to see, or hang out with my best friend," he shouted back.

Suki placed her hands on her hips and raised one brow disbelievingly. She couldn't understand how he could be mad at her when he was the one in the wrong. "Just friends? With all the time you've been spending with her you could have fooled me."

"Are you serious? Me and Letty? You're crazy. We're just friends. Any plain fool can see that. It's just too bad your jealousy can't see it," he spat back.

"Oh please," she expressed with the usual roll of her eyes. "You run to that girl for everything! I'm your girlfriend, Dom; I'm supposed to be the only girl you run to."

"I'm sorry, but there are only certain things I can talk to Letty about," he spoke in a softer tone before continuing. "Like my mom. And you know what, if you can't accept that without being jealous or flipping out about it then this isn't going to work. If you can't trust me then we should be together, because it's just going to lead to a lot of annoying fighting."

Dom finally took a seat on the steps to the porch and began massaging his temples. Being in a relationship at this age should not require so much hard work, and definitely not this much unnecessary drama. He missed the days where he didn't have to justify his actions to another girl. He missed being single_. Why am I doing this again?_ He thought, and secretly hoped that Suki's jealousy was so huge that she would just break up with him.

Suki uncrossed her arms and sat beside Dom. Her gaze softened as she gently placed her small hand on his back. "Look, I know I may come off as superficial sometimes, but you can talk to me about anything. I'd understand."

The words that left Suki's mouth surprised Dom. He was almost certain that she would be so infinitely pissed off to call it quits. He was almost hoping for it. He could have easily been the one to end their relationship but something always kept him from doing so. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something always stopped the words from leaving his mouth. Maybe he didn't want to be the bad guy, or didn't want to see her cry, or get hurt. Dom was stuck in a state where if Suki wasn't the one to end things then nobody was.

He did however, appreciate that she managed to tone down her attitude, and offered her a faint smile for it. "Suki, I appreciate the offer, but you just wouldn't understand like Letty can."

Suki slowly retracted her hand form his back as her eyes went wide. "How so? She's not even our age. I think that clearly makes me the better choice. "

Dom sighed. He could feel her hot tempered attitude flaring up. "It has nothing to do with age. Letty, she's just easy to talk to. She understands things better."

"In what way?" Suki asked quizzically. She could not bring herself to fathom Dom's reasons. What was so special about Letty? "In exactly what way?" she asked again, and clearly more agitated. "How does she understand better than me? Last time I checked all of us were missing out on one, if not both parents. So how exactly does she understand better than me? What makes her so damn special, Dom? Why do you have to run to her over, me, or your sister, or Vince for that matter?"

Dom heard all of her questions – very clearly in fact – but could not supply a sufficient answer for her. He knew whatever response he sputtered out would anger her. Besides, how exactly do you tell your girlfriend that you share a special bond with another girl? That you prefer to share your most inner thoughts with someone else?

All Dom could do was shrug. "It's hard to explain," he told her, giving her his best apologetic expression. It was the honest truth though. The way he felt about Letty and how effortlessly he could tell her everything was difficult to explain.

Suki laughed incredulously. "You're kidding me, right? That's all I get? Why don't you just admit that she means more to you than just a friend? Quit lying and just admit it!"

Suki rose from the porch steps and waited for Dom to admit what she feared most.

Dom rubbed his hands together nervously. He knew he needed to choose his words carefully.

"I'm waiting," Suki reminded him. "Spit it out already."

"She does mean more to me than just a friend, but not as a girlfriend," he explained.

Suki shook her head. "That makes absolutely no sense, Dominic. No title exists for something in between friend and girlfriend. I'm your girlfriend; I'm supposed to be your number one option for everything!"

"Well you're not," he blurted out.

Suki was so shocked that she nearly gasped. The words that left his mouth were razor sharp and pricked her eyes with tears.

Dom didn't mean for those words to come out so hastily and cause such hurtful damage that was displayed all over Suki's face. Seeing her glistening tears washed an overwhelming sense of guilt over him, and it was the exact reason why he could never bring himself to break up with her. Seeing that kind of pain on anybody's face bothered him, let alone being the main reason or cause of it.

Before Suki could run off down the street Dom hurriedly engulfed her into a tight embrace. "I'm sorry," he whispered into her ear and gently kissed the top of her head. "I'm so sorry," he repeated softly. And, to his surprise she didn't try to run or fight him off. Her arms reflexively wrapped around his body and wept into his chest. He didn't know what else to say, other than I'm sorry. Not sorry for it being the truth, but sorry for the way it affected her. However, Dom refrained from telling her that important piece of information and simply held her as she sobbed into his chest. He hated being the cause of anyone's misery and was not about to subject Suki to anymore of it.

When her silent sobbing came to halt she removed her arms from Dom's body and wiped away the streams of tears that peppered her cheeks. She looked at him with sad eyes, searching for hope, and any hint in Dom's expression that told her he wanted to salvage their relationship. Even though he thought otherwise and wanted things differently, he still reassured her that everything between them would be alright. He reiterated that she should not feel threatened by Letty, and he would try his best to open up to her rather than Letty. Being in so-call-love at such a young age made them agree and do crazy things.

Suddenly remembering the time – and that the first day of high school was hours away – Suki phoned home to be picked up.

Dom waited with her on the porch until her cousin arrived in front of his house. He walked her over to the car and kissed her goodbye. When the black car was out of sight he retreated to his house. He locked up the doors and downstairs windows before trudges upstairs to his bedroom. His and Suki's argument was in fact epically draining. It affected him so much that he didn't even have the strength to shower. At this point it felt as though he was running on fumes, and without even untying his shoes, Dom sunk onto his mattress. His eyes closed effortlessly and immediately started snoring.

Dom's body found it difficult to believe it was already time to get up for school. High school started forty-five minutes earlier than junior high and he already hated it. His brain refused to believe the early morning manifested so quickly. It felt as though he had just gone to sleep five minutes ago, and his father banging on his door to get up only agitated him further.

"Alright, enough, I'm getting up," he grumpily yelled to his father through the door.

"Boy, you know better than to get an attitude with me. Get up, get dressed, and be downstairs in 15 minutes," he yelled.

Dom forced his weary eyes open and lifted himself up. He kicked his shoes off and stripped down to his boxers before making his way to the bathroom for a hot shower. He stepped in, immediately sat on the base of the shower, and allowed the hot spray of water hit his back. The hot steam that filled the bathroom created such a relaxing aroma – it was exactly what he needed. He would have stayed in there all morning but his dad shouting from downstairs would not have it. He was profoundly adamant about his children's academics.

Not wanting to hear his dad raise his voice anymore Dom dressed quickly, skipped breakfast, and positioned his self in the backseat of the car to get some last minute sleep before school. The ride from the Toretto house to Dom's new school only took 15 minutes, but he took advantage of every second.

He climbed out of the car right behind Vince and was abruptly more alert due to the crisp cool air the morning provided. The scenery is was what essentially caught his attention. Not only did the enormous student body surprise him, but the campus was exceptionally larger than his former junior high. And of course, the maturing and matured girls did not go unnoticed by Vince and Dom. Both of their mouths went agape as witnessed all kinds of females, from freshmen all the way to the grown up, legal, seniors.

"Wow," Vince whispered breathlessly. "We're going to have so much fun."

Dom simply smirked at him.

"Oh, I mean_ I'm_ going to have so much fun," he corrected himself. "Forgot, you're tied down to Suki," he teased as he patted him on his back and began walking behind a few girls. He looked back at Dom with a wide grin spread across his face, "I'll catch you by the office before first period starts."

Dom shook his head in amusement and set on foot in the other direction. He scowled the posters on the wall to see which class room would have his class schedule in. He ran his fingers down the list off letters – if you're last name begins with this letter then pick up your schedule here – and stopped on the letter T. "Room 216," he muttered to himself.

Now that that was out of the way he went off in search of a familiar face to socialize with to pass the time. However, he didn't have to search long because as soon as he turned the corner to one of the buildings he ran straight into Hector.

"Damn homie watch where you're goin-," Hector yelled but soon stopped when he realized it was Dom. "Ah, shit, my bad. I was just looking for you."

"It's all good," Dom assured him as they dapped fists. "So have you seen anyone else from our old school?"

"Just a few fellas. I've mostly been hanging out with my cousin Phillip and his friends," he answered. "Come on, let's go chill till we have to go class."

Dom agreed and followed Hector to a large group of people vacating two benches in the center of the outdoor courtyard. A vast majority of the faces he could remember from the races were right here, and he wasted no time socializing with as many as he could. Within a matter of minutes he already felt as if he was part of the in crowd. He couldn't wait for Vince to fall in line as well.

In the midst of talking about the latest set of performance tires Dom's eyes drifted and caught site of a familiar face. It was Suki, leaning against a rail, with a quite a few guys surrounding her. His eyes immediately filled with anger and jealously. He wasn't sure which he was more upset about – her choice of clothing, or the fact the Johnny Tran was drooling over his girlfriend.

He quickly excused himself from the conversation and began a gait across the courtyard to her. As he was becoming closer and closer within her proximity he noticed just how much Suki was dressed to impress. She was wearing a short denim skirt, with a white baby doll tank. Her hair was blow-dried to perfection and it looked as though her make-up was applied with great precision. She looked amazing, yet older, and Dom did not appreciate all the guys who were drooling over her. What did she have to prove? Who was she trying to impress? He was her boyfriend. In his mind there was no need to grasp another guy's attention when she was already taken.

Without saying a word, Dom pushed Johnny Tran out of his way and extended his hand to Suki. "Come on, let's go."

Suki looked at him with an incredulous expression. "Dom, what in the hell is the matter with you?"

He expressed one right back. "Are you serious? You know I can't stand this lame and you're here talking to him!"

"It's just talking, Dom. It's not like I'm sleeping with the guy," Suki yelled back.

The typical Johnny Tran would have immediately engaged into a fist fight with Dom, but he refrained. The argument that was quickly festering in front him was quite entertaining. So, he simply stood there with his goons with a pleasant smirk on his face. It gave him great satisfaction that he was the cause of Dom's latest problem.

"Just talking? As in the same kind of talking I was doing with Letty and nothing else, but it wasn't okay for me? The same simple talking that was accused of being something else? ," he ruthlessly questioned rhetorically.

Suki folded her arms and sighed. "It's different."

Dom scoffed. "Wow, you're such a hypocrite." He couldn't believe what he was hearing. _So much for double standards_, he thought.

"What did you call me?" Suki asked as she narrowed her eyes on him.

"You heard me," he snorted and walked right up to her and lowered his face to hers. "You are a H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-T-E."

Suki felt embarrassed and pissed off at Dom for making such a big deal about a meaningless conversation. The whole scene and argument irritated her so much that she pushed him away and hissed. "You're an asshole."

Dom didn't even bother going after her. It was only going to anger both of them if their conversation continued, and quite frankly he was sick of her latest antics. Instead, he turned his attention to a very pompous Johnny Tran.

"What the hell are you smiling about?" he demanded to know.

The haughty Johnny Tran laughed, "Oh, just about how I'm going to bag your girlfriend."

Instinctively Dom dropped his stuff and grabbed the collar of Johnny's shirt. "You're gonna be sorry you were ever talking to her," Dom warned as he brought his fist back to make contact to Johnny's face.

Just as he released the punch Vince swooped in out of nowhere and wrapped his arms around Dom to pull him away. "Dom, calm down man. It's not worth it. It's the first day of school and your dad will rip us a new one if we keep on with fights-on-the-first-day-of-school routine."

Dom broke free from Vince's stronghold and ran his hand over his head. He paced back and forth to try and calm himself down. It took great strength to let Johnny walk free after that comment. What a morning this turned out to be. He just wanted to go home and sleep, for days in fact. When he finally got his anger under control he faced Vince. "When did you start playing peacemaker? I thought you liked fighting?"

Vince smirked. "Hey, I just said the first day, tomorrow is fine with me. Hell, even after school."

There was the good ole Vince he knew. Dom was grateful for their friendship and could always count on him to lighten an intense mood, or offer a great laugh. "Let's go find our classes," Dom suggested as he began to gather his belongings from the ground.

"Alright, but are you going to tell me what the hell sparked that whole thing?" Vince questioned curiously.

"Long story man. I'll tell you at lunch……if I'm up to," Dom told him.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Mia tapped her pencil anxiously on her desk as she literally counted the minutes until her next class. It was the only one that she and Letty shared together this year, and she absolutely hated that it was the last. Unlike high school, their junior high allowed them to pick up their schedules two weeks before the first day. With the increased students, they even started dividing students into two different lunch hours, again, separating the two. She had so much to tell Letty about a few new boys, a couple of teachers, and most importantly the commotion that happened between Dom and Suki just outside of her window last night. Of all the days for Letty to not hitch a ride with her, it had to be today, Mia stressed.

It was as though Mia's eyes were prisoners to the clock and would not be set free until the bell rung. And, when it did, she swung her backpack over one shoulder and was the first one out of the classroom. She power walked through the familiar halls while simultaneously searching for Letty with her eyes, but no luck. When she finally reached the classroom she waited outside of the door for her. Minutes passed and students entered sporadically, but unfortunately none were Letty. Finally, when the late bell rang Mia decided to give up and go inside. She ignored the teacher's comment about giving chances on being late the first couple of days and took a seat in a desk that had a vacant one beside it.

It wasn't until fifteen minutes into the class that Letty finally walked through the classroom door.

"Sheesh, it's about time Letty," Mia blurted out louder than she intended.

"Thank you for that announcement, Miss Toretto," The teacher announced sarcastically.

Noticing that everyone heard her comment she quickly sank back into her chair and blushed. Letty simply shook her head and laughed as she handed the teacher a pass before sitting in the desk beside Mia.

"Did you miss me that much, Mia?" Letty whispered to her through her giggles.

"Oh, shut up," she mouthed. The teacher had begun talking; informing them his curriculum he had planned for the year, and blah blah blah. When he finally stopped talking Mia wasted no time in speaking.

"I have been dying to tell you this all day," Mia expressed as she turned to Letty. "Dom and Suki had a huge argument about you last night."

"Great," Letty sighed, "more drama. Your brother is not smart, and Suki, she's just…idk."

"Well, it was a pretty epic argument, and my brother basically admitted that you were his first option for everything. That he preferred you," Mia explained excitedly.

Letty was unsure on how to process this new information. She was actually over her and Dom being anything more than friends. She looked at Mia quizzically. "So, are they broken up?"

"I'm not sure. She was crying though. Dom was hugging her and whispering something to her. I couldn't quite make it out. He kissed her goodbye though, so they might not be," Mia answers.

Letty rested her chin on her hand. "Hmm, maybe they finally talked about how she shouldn't feel threatened by me. Me and Dom are just friends, nothing else."

"Or, my brother really likes you but doesn't want to hurt, Suki, so that's why he hasn't made a move," Mia suggests.

Letty lets her hand slip from underneath her chin and smack onto the desk. "Oh, let's not start that again. He chose Suki. I'm actually fine just being friends now."

"But-" Mia tried to counter.

"No, Mia. Just stop," Letty interrupted and pleaded. "Our friendship is good enough and all I'm taking this as is that we can finally we be friends out in the open. End of Dom discussion."

Mia put on her best pouty face. She couldn't imagine a better match for her brother than Letty. They were absolutely perfect for each other. Sighing she agreed, "Alright."

Letty smiles, "Thank you, Mia. I know how hard that was for you."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Despite his spat with Suki, Dom was enjoying high school. It was rather exciting, even with all its demanding teachers. The people were great – especially the girls – and for a brief moment Dom actually wanted to go home and be set free of Suki. As the day went on he was seriously getting the feeling that he should experience it all single. And, when his father picked him and Vince up from school he contemplated it all the way home. He even thought about going with his dad to pick up Letty and Mia. He could really use a girl's prospective, well rather Letty's. But, when his father came within closer proximity of their house that last thought quickly disappeared. It was Suki, sitting on the steps to their porch.

"Wow, Suki got here fast," Anthony sounded impressed. "I don't know how she managed to get through all that traffic so quick."

The sight of her made Dom sigh loud enough for all the ears in the car to hear. He really wasn't up for another argument.

Already being informed, Vince remained quiet as if he didn't hear it.

His father however, raised one eyebrow quizzically and looked at his son through the review mirror. "Having girl troubles, Dominic?"

"Something like that, pop," Dom answered with little detail. "It's……complicated."

Anthony chuckled, "It always is."

He didn't bother turning into the drive way because Mia and Letty were about to get out of school in about an hour, so he decided to just return to the shop until then. Once Vince slid out of the car Anthony looked back at his son to hand him the house keys.

"Do you want some advice?" he offered.

Dom looked back at his dad and took the house keys, "Maybe another time."

Anthony nodded. He knew Dom would vent and seek advice when he was ready, so he maneuvered a u-turn on the block and drove off back to the shop.

Vince and Dom walked side by side up the walk-way and up the porch steps.

"Hey, Suki," Vince greeted while awkwardly looking around.

She smiled ruefully instead of speaking.

Vince mimicked the same smile to her and tapped his fingers against his thigh as he waiting for Dom to open the front door. Once the lock clicked and the door cracked open he scurried instead to get away from the awkward tension building at the front door, and headed straight to the kitchen.

For a moment, Dom considered going inside and closing the door on Suki to join Vince in the kitchen, but he knew better. Instead, he closed the front door and sat beside her, staring off in the distance. Neither one spoke for a long time – it was as though this time they were both considering thinking before talking. After twenty minutes of peaceful silence Suki cleared her throat loudly to break it.

Dom turned his head toward her and waited for her to speak. Their relationship had been so wacky that he didn't know what to expect anymore.

Suki rubbed her hands together nervously and chewed at her bottom lip. "I'm sorry," she finally sputtered out.

Dom raised one brow quizzically. Was she actually apologizing? This was an absolute first; usually it was he who did all the apologizing. He did his best to fight back a smile and remain quiet, because judging by her body language she wasn't quite finished.

"You're right………I acted like a total hypocrite today," she continued. "And, because you and Tran don't get along, I shouldn't have been talking to him regardless. I'd want you to ignore all my enemies too. So……………I'm……sorry."

Dom could tell this was a huge step for Suki. Admitting that she was wrong and apologizing for it did not happen with girls of Suki's nature, so he appreciated it dearly. Was Suki actually growing up? It surprised Dom, but in a good way. He playfully nudged his elbow into her arm. "Come again? Can you repeat that, please?" he teased.

She let out a blissful laugh, "You better have recorded that, because there's no way I can repeat that."

Dom put his arm around Suki and brought her close to his body to plant a soft kiss on her forehead. And, just like that, all those thoughts of breaking up and experiencing High School alone dissolved away from his mind. They both fell comfortably back into their comfort zone.

"How about we go upstairs to your room?" she suggested.

Without any hesitation, Dom rose from the porch and lifted the very petite Suki over his shoulder and trudged upstairs. He kicked his door open and shut with his foot and dropped her onto his mattress before falling onto her.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"I'll be over in awhile," Letty told Mia and Anthony as she exited the car and scurried off inside her house.

She had been so anxious to get home and wait for her father's call. The previous night he informed her that he had a huge surprise for her and would tell her the next day, when he knew it was completely finalized. Throughout the whole day Letty was going over all the possible things it could be. Unfortunately, her anxious mind could not form a guess good enough to calm her curiosity and nerves.

Letty's eyes remained fixed on the telephone as she paced back and forth rapidly on the carpet. Her mother watched with a concerned expression painted on her face. She kept thinking that at any moment the carpet was going to catch fire underneath Letty's feet. And when the phone did finally make a noise, Letty answered it on only half a ring.

"Hello?" she said apprehensively into the phone. When the voice on the other end answered her lips curved up into blissful smile. She adored the way her father always kept his promises.

"Okay, so what's the big news, Dad?" she asked eagerly. She bit her bottom lip and waited for him to answer. When he finally did Letty's mouth went largely agape and froze for a few seconds before screaming excitedly. She was so thrilled by his news that she dropped the phone and went prancing throughout the house.

Her mother, Anna, ran to the phone to attain whatever piece of information that had Letty in such an ecstatic mood. "Juan, what did you say to that girl to make her go so crazy?"

She listened intently as he spoke to her through the phone. When she knew exactly what it was she sighed. "You know she's only thirteen, Juan."

In the midst of her celebrations, Letty heard the hint of disapproval in her mother's voice. She quickly made her way back to the living room and spoke. "Mom, please don't ruin this for me, please. At least not right now…"

Her mother opened her mouth to speak but quickly closed it. Her daughter was happy, and it wasn't exactly like the gift he got her was actually here, so she simply handed her back the phone.

"Oh my god, dad. Thank you so much. I cannot wait to see it," Letty quickly rambled into the phone. "There's more? Over there? Oh man, I cannot wait…"

Letty put her other hand over the phone and whispered to her mother, "Dad invited me over there for the summer, please let me go mom."

Before her mother could answer Letty removed her hand and continued talking to her father.

When their conversation finally ended, Letty wanted nothing more than to inform her friends of the great news. She managed to dodge the conversation with her mom about visiting her father so far away and jetted out the door toward the Toretto house. When she entered the house she said quick hellos to Vince, Mia, and Anthony before asking where Dom was. He was the first person she wanted to tell. It had nothing to do with liking him, but everything to do with how close their obsessions and respect for things like her gift were. After receiving an answer she climbed the stairs two at a time and burst into his room.

Letty immediately flopped onto his bed and comfortably situated herself next to him. "Today has been the best day ever, Dom."

Dom closed his car magazine and tossed it to the side. "Really? Is 7th grade really that great?"

Letty stared as if to ask, 'really?' "Not the 7th grade, my da-"

Suki appeared between Dom's doorway and cleared her throat loudly to interject Letty mid-sentence. She smiled ruefully and motioned to Dom with her eyes. Letty had no idea what that meant. After what Mia had told her at school today, she assumed everything was finally resolved.

Dom quickly got off the bed and walked over to Suki and placed his arm over her. "Letty, do you mind?"

Without having to say another one word, Letty nodded and quickly exited the room. Before descending downstairs Letty remained at the top for a few minutes to gather her thoughts. Dom officially traded in their friendship for a jealous girlfriend and it felt awful. It was such an imprudent decision on his part, but if it made him happy then who was she to argue or tell him different. So, completely pushing the whole scenario out of her mind, Letty cheerfully went downstairs to tell Mia, Vince, and Anthony all about her dad's gift and possibly going away next summer.

Although it was tough to send Letty away Dom didn't want to push his luck with Suki. She had already admitted she was wrong, apologized, and the afternoon had turned out to be great. He didn't want to fall back into the same argument, so he played it safe. And, of course Suki was definitely pleased. It felt as though Dom had finally chosen her over Letty. Dom only hoped that Suki wouldn't make him regret this.

_Maybe I'll get to hear her big news later,_ Dom thought. But, he never did, and neither Mia nor Vince informed him either. Letty asked Mia not to, and Mia told Vince it wasn't their news to tell. Dom spent the whole day with Suki until her mother came to pick her up. Even after she was gone Dom chose not seek out Letty in secret like he had done in the past.

And, as weeks wore on Dom kept his distance. Even when the entire group would hang out, his conversation was limited with Letty. He didn't ask a lot of questions or spark up any personal discussion. It was as though they went from best friends to merely acquaintances. Although it was unfortunate, Letty did not allow it to get her down. School – both academically and socially – was going great and she had the next summer to look forward too. They both danced around each other so much that it became routine to greet and talk to each other carefully even when Suki wasn't present. This all confused the hell out of Mia and Vince, and it did not go unnoticed by Anthony either. But, no one asked or pried, they all, except Mia, thought they had just gotten into a fight and would eventually subside.

When it continued long after Thanksgiving and Christmas break Mia finally got all the info out of Letty, and she was more than disappointed in her bother. Vince and Anthony, however, were still in the dark about the whole situation. There was more than one occasion where Vince wanted to ask what the hell was going on between them, but could never find the right moment. It was as though Suki was attached to Dom at the hip. But, the day finally came where Suki missed her first day school and the question left Vince's mouth at warp speed. Dom's answer, however, was more than shocking to Vince.

"We just grew apart."

Vince did not understand at all. He talked to Letty regularly and as far as he was concerned he and Dom were pretty similar. So, growing apart did not make any sense. He knew Dom's explanation was just a cop out for what the really caused of their separation was. And, he was ready to put his money on it being Suki. Of course Dom denied it, but Vince could tell by how offended he became that he had hit the nail on the head. In the end, it just made Vince dislike Suki.

It wasn't until a month before another school year was coming to end that Anthony finally confronted his son.

Dom had just finished getting ready for his date with Suki and was on his way out the door when his father called him from the kitchen. "Dominic, come here for a second."

He abruptly stopped in his tracks and made his way to the kitchen. "What's up, dad?"

His father folded his newspaper and set it down on the table before speaking. "Son, what's going on with you and Letty?"

Dom froze for a second. He didn't think his father paid such close attention to his interactions with his friends. Letty was always around when the group would hang out so he figured his father didn't notice anything different. So, he tried to play it off. "What do you mean?" he asked, putting on his best impression of a curious face.

Anthony cocked his head to the side, "Are you really going to play stupid with me?"

Dom swallowed hard. He should have known better than try to that with his dad. So, he simply repeated the same line he gave Vince, "I don't know dad. I guess………we just grew apart or something."

His dad furrowed one brow at him. "You grew apart, huh? Now that you're in high school you're too cool to be friends with Letty now?"

Dom sighed. He really didn't want to have this conversation at all. "It's not about being too cool, dad. It's……" He really couldn't find a sufficient reason to give his father. This wasn't Vince and growing apart wasn't going to be a good enough answer for his dad.

"I don't understand," Anthony chimed in through Dom's thoughts. "You two were so close, best friends, and now you hardly speak to each other. Grew apart? That doesn't make sense, Dominic. Last year you were still two years ahead of her but you guys got along just fine. So, help me understand this."

Anthony rose from his seat and leaned against the kitchen table to wait for his son's response, but Dom remained silent.

"Last time I checked Letty was a good kid and a great friend. You know that's rare to find?" He explained.

Dom simply nodded with his eyes downcast to the floor. He felt ashamed because it looked like he became this stupid popularity jock who apparently was too cool to associate with anyone outside of high school. But, it wasn't like the real reason was any better either. At times he did miss Letty, their conversations, and hanging out exclusively, but Suki had been around so much that the thought of Letty never lingered for too long. Discussions about him and Letty happened few and far between. Perhaps that's why they went so long without having a real conversation.

Knowing that his son was not going to go into details, Anthony decided to leave it alone. He uncrossed his arms and breathed out, "You'll understand when it's gone."

"What?" Dom asked quizzically. "What does that mean?"

Anthony opened his mouth to answer but hesitated before closing it. Letty going away in month was something Dom needed to hear from her. "Nothing…… But, you should talk to Letty soon."

He turned away from his son and finished drinking his coffee. After the last gulp he placed the mug back down and went to retrieve his keys. "Mia is staying at Letty's, so when you leave lock up the house. I'm headed to the shop."

And, without waiting for an answer, Anthony left the house.

Dom left the kitchen and retreated to the living room. He paced back and forth as the conversation with his father began to marinate in his head. His father's words made him feel like he made a huge mistake by discarding Letty's friendship as if it was such an irreplaceable thing. '_When are things going to be so uncomplicated_?' he thought. As he was going over scenarios in his head to make things right again, Mia and Letty barged through the front door.

"Oh good, you're still hear," Mia exhaled in relief. "I forgot my bag."

Dom immediately stood at the site of Letty. Now that he had gotten a real good look at her, she'd grown a little. Not wanting anyone to notice him staring he quickly shook his head and spoke. "Uh…what are you guys up to?" he asked, hurriedly.

"We're going to the movies. Letty's mom is going to drop us off," Mia informed him as she climbed the stairs.

Letty was just about to follow suit when Dom's voice stopped her.

"Hey, Letty," he spoke softly. "Can we talk for a minute?"

She hesitated for a moment. "Uh, sure…" she agreed apprehensively.

Dom was unsure on exactly how to start the conversation. He didn't know if he should dive right in and say sorry for tossing their friendship to the side, or start off with simple conversation to build up to a proper apology. Before he knew it he was avoiding eye contact, shoved one hand nervously in his pocket, and tensely massaging the nape of his neck.

"Dude, are you okay?" Letty asked skeptically.

Dom shook his head to himself for fidgeting like a nervous fool and finally mustered up the strength to get to the point. "I was talking to my dad and-"

"Oh, your dad told you about me leaving for Hawaii this summer," Letty interrupted.

"Yeah, I never meant for our friendship to-" he continued automatically, but then stopped, and thought about what she just said. He wasn't sure if he heard correctly. "Wait, what?" he asked hurriedly. Dom swallowed hard as he waited for Letty to repeat what she said. Did she really say she was leaving?


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing.

* * *

"I'm going to spend the summer with my dad," Letty informed him excitedly. "Pretty cool, huh?"

'_Holy shit,'_ he says in his head, feeling completely stunned. She really is leaving. "Yeah," he says robotically without thinking. "That's great," he lies more.

The words coming from his mouth are far from the truth. It wasn't cool or great. In fact, to Dom it freaking stunk. Somehow he finds the strength to refrain from saying what is really on his mind. He truly wants to yell at her for not being more persistent and telling him a lot sooner. He wants to say, 'no, don't go' but, unfortunately he knows that he's in no position to tell her that. He spent practically the whole school year falling out of a great friendship with her. The right to being mad or upset with her because of a vacation for the summer was stripped away because of it.

Letty rocks back and forth on her heels calmly as she waits for Mia. Dom swallows hard and nervously shoves his pockets in his hands. "Look, about what I was saying……I just wanted you to know that I never meant for our friendship to become non-existe--"he continued but was soon cut off my Mia trekking downstairs.

"Sorry I took so long, I had to fix my hair," she apologies to Letty. "You ready to go?"

Letty nods and looks over at Dom. He removes his hands from one of his pockets and waves her off. "It's alright, go ahead. It can wait," he says.

"Alright, see ya later," Letty says and goes to meet Mia outside.

Dom inhales deeply and exhales his breath forcefully from his mouth. It was true that he had not hung around Letty for countless months, but simply knowing she was there was still a comfort. Now, this summer, she really was going to be non-existent and he felt weary about it.

Before he could sink deeper into his thoughts the sound of the telephone ringing brings him afloat. He reluctantly pries himself from the living room and goes to answer. It's Suki, wondering where he is.

"Sorry," he tells her through the phone. "My dad kept me for something. I'm heading over to Hector's to get a ride to your house."

"I'll just have my cousin pick you up. I decided I want to see the new horror flick that came out. We can go to the theater by your house," she tells him.

"Okay," he says hastily and hangs up the phone.

Rather than flop down on the sofa and dwell on the situation with Letty, he locks up the house and waits for Suki on the porch. Maybe some fresh air will do him some good and clear his mind. Summer vacation was only three months, and more often than not, it flew by all too quickly. Perhaps he was overreacting. It's not like she was going to be gone for years.

He lightly chuckles to himself for getting so paranoid and acting as though she was going to Hawaii for permanent residence. The more he thought about it, the more he became more comfortable with the idea. She was going to be spending time with her dad – someone she missed irrevocably. He breathes a sigh of relief when he thinks how he fought the urge to bitch her out for letting him be the last to know.

By the time Suki and her cousin pulled up in front of his house the stress and worry that was crawling through his mind wriggled its way back out. He brushed lips with Suki through the rolled down window before sliding in the back seat with her.

They arrived at the movie theater in five minutes and purchased the tickets, along with popcorn and soft drinks. As usual, they climbed the stairs all the way to the top of the stadium seating to acquire the best view. And, just before the lights dim significantly Dom catches a glimpse of Letty and his sister just two rows below him. He smiles at how Letty still get's this goofy, excited expression on her face just before the start of gory horror flicks. And that very expression makes him regret how he treated her throughout the school year. _'What the hell was I think?'_ he wonders.

Before Suki could accuse him of checking out other girls he adjusts his eyes to the big screen. Within the first fifteen minutes Suki is already clutching to him and covering her eyes at. Suki is not even a fan of horror movies, but Dom assumes she likes to be held and feel protected. But, in this particular instance he doesn't mind. Her eyes are shut tight in his chest, which allows Dom to sporadically avert his eyes to Letty. All her reactions to the movies only make him miss the days when they'd watch them together.

When the movie credits begin to roll Suki and Dom are among the first people to stand and make their way to the exit. To Dom's delight they end up running into Mia and Letty outside.

"I saw you guys clinging to each other through the whole movie," Dom teased as he walked behind them.

Letty turned around and snorted. "Please, if anything that movie was hilarious."

Dom chuckled, only a person like Letty would agree with him. "It was, especially when the chick threw the shotgun at the serial killer instead of shooting him."

"Yeah, that was too funny," Letty says through her laughter. "They need to make more realistic horror movies."

Mia eyeballs them skeptically. "Okay, you two need serious help. That movie was filled with so much gore that I thought I was going to puke. I don't even see how that was close to being funny."

They both look at each other and then back to Mia before shrugging their shoulders in unison.

"Weirdos," Mia laughed awkwardly as she walked toward a payphone. "I'll go phone for our ride home."

Silence ensued as Mia walked away. All three of them were unsure on what to speak about. Before the atmosphere got any more awkward, Letty spoke up.

"So, Suki, how did you like the movie?" she asked, making sure that she did not feel left out.

"It was okay. Definitely a movie I can only watch once," she answered flatly before turning her attention to Dom. "So, I'm hungry."

Dom bites his tongue from lashing out on how rude her demeanor turned toward Letty. He wondered when Suki's possessiveness excelled so much. "Well, you didn't eat any popcorn, so I guess you would be. What do you feel like eating?"

"There's a subway across the street," she pointed.

Dom winced inwardly. He hated that place with a passion. He could never understand why people would spend money on a sandwich that could easily be made at home. He sighed audibly, "Alright."

Before they could begin a gait toward the cross walk Mia trekked back towards them. "Letty, your mom is on the way," she announced to her. "And where are you guys going?" she quickly asked.

"Subway," Dom begrudgingly stated.

Mia's eyes lit up. "Oh, I want to go. I couldn't eat during that movie, so I'm starving. Let's go too, Letty."

"How about we go to Fat Burger, or that Popeyes across from Subway," Letty suggested.

"I've had enough grease for the week," Mia informed her. "I'm going to Subway with or without you guys."

Letty sighed annoyingly. It was no surprise that she felt the exact same as Dom did about that place.

Knowing that neither one of them was going to change the others' mind about their food selection, all four of them made their way to the crosswalk. Inside Dom was smiling. He was glad that his sister spoke up about wanting to join them. It meant a few more minutes with Letty and he'd happily take them. She would be leaving soon and the need to make amends felt like a top priority. He had to admit that being within the same vicinity as Letty felt great again. It was always so carefree and fun.

When they arrived at their destination Mia was the first to enter followed by Suki. Letty was about to follow suit when Dom suddenly closed the door. Suki immediately turned around and gave Dom a quizzical look.

"We'll wait out here," he said to her through the glass doors. Suki briefly pressed her lips together tightly before turning abruptly to join Mia in line. She was trying her best to not become jealous or let her mind wander into dangerous obsessive territory. Dom had made a really big commitment to her by toning his friendship down with Letty. There was no way that he was going to resort back to his old ways, she thought.

Her quick annoyed expression did not go unnoticed by Dom and to his surprise not by Letty either.

"Are you going to get in trouble for this later?" she teased half-heartedly.

"Nah," Dom began as he hopped up on a rail nearby. "Believe it or not, she's actually toned down."

"Could have fooled me," Letty stated honestly as she hopped on the rail beside him.

Her words made the awful guilt he felt earlier return, making his grip on the rail tighten as he mentally beat himself up. "Letty, I never really said everything I needed to say earlier—about our friendship. You were, are, one of the great friends I have and you didn't deserve that kind of treatment I showed you throughout the school year. I was an ass and I just hope that you can forgive me. And, if it's alright with you I'd like if things could go back to normal."

Letty's lips curved up into a small. She knew deep down inside—through all the bull—he was a good guy. "Consider it water under the bridge."

Dom lifted his gaze from the ground he was nervously staring at as he apologized and looked at her in shock. Did she really forgive him that easily? He expected anger, for her to do anything but accept his apology. "Well, I wasn't expecting that."

Letty smirked. "What? Were you expecting a fuck you asshole, and your apology type of response?"

"Well yeah," he answered honestly. "With the way I brushed off our friendship, I was expecting nothing less than that. I guess you really don't hold grudges."

"Nah, not against people who I know are big softies inside," Letty teased playfully.

As the first step to making amends wrapped up Mia and Suki finally emerged from the glass doors. Letty immediately hopped down from the rail and averted her attention to Mia.

"We should go back across the street before my mom shows up and thinks we've been kidnapped." She then turned toward Suki—who was now standing in-between Dom's legs—and waved bye.

"Alright," Mia agreed. "See you guys later," she told her brother and Suki.

Dom desperately wanted to walk back across the street with his sister and Letty. He marveled at how effortlessly easy it was to fall comfortably back into that closeness with her. And, he knew, if he wanted that closeness to return between them, he needed to do so slowly if he wanted to keep Suki as his girlfriend. Despite her jealous, she still possessed certain qualities that Dom found endearing, and was not willing to part with.

"So, what nasty sandwich did you get this time?" He asked before she could question what he talked about with Letty.

"Turkey on wheat, with baby spinach, tomato, and cucumbers," she said sweetly.

Dom crinkled his nose in disgust. "Wow, sounds pretty gross."

She playfully hit his arm. "It's not gross; it's actually tasty and healthy."

"Since when do you care about eating healthy?" he asked. When he had first met her in junior high she didn't mind the occasional cheeseburger or fried chicken.

"Um, hello, I know you've seen the competition at our school. I can't let myself go," she stated adamantly.

Dom shook his head. "You girls and your competitiveness towards each other are funny."

She snorted, "Whatever. I've seen check out other girls."

Rather than argue with her Dom completely ignored her last comment. "Come on, let's go sit down somewhere while we for your cousin to pick us up."

It was comments like that, that could really mess up a good day for them. It only made him want to end their dates early and get far away from her negative vibes. So, while she delicately ate her sandwich both of them remained in annoyed silence. Now all he wanted to do was get home and hang out with Vince, and hopefully Letty as well.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Vince tore a piece of chicken off the drum stick with his teeth as he walked down the sidewalk toward the Toretto house. He had actually spent the night at his own house last night and that only meant one thing: to steal some cash from his mom. She was an alcoholic and it was going to go to waste on booze anyway. So, Vince didn't ever feel guilty about sneaking into her room when she passed out on the sofa. In a small way he felt he was doing her a favor. There would less money for booze, and it was going toward a good cause—food and clothes for her son, Vince thought.

When he finished off the piece of chicken he tossed the bone in the gutter and wiped the grease on his jeans. As he briskly walked up the porch steps he searched his pockets for the spare key Anthony had made him.

"Shit," he breathed out when his pockets felt no metal. Then he remembered he set it down on the kitchen counter inside. He sighed as he knocked and peered through the windows of the house. Empty. Great, he thought. He had no desire to go back to his mother's house so he decided to wait on the porch for someone with a key to open the door.

"Oh well, at least it gives me time to enjoy this," he said to himself as he lifted the lid to his bucket of chicken.

He was halfway through the delicious oil-greased chicken when he saw Letty and Mia exiting Anna's car.

"Hey," he called out to them. They both turned and walked across the street toward him.

"What's going on?" Mia asked.

"I'm locked out. You have a key?" He asked eagerly. The chicken was already starting to get to his stomach.

"Sorry, V. I left mine in my room. Didn't think I'd need it since I'm spending the night at Letty's house," she informed apologetically.

"You can hang out at my house until Anthony comes back," Letty offered. "And don't forget to bring your chicken with you," she added with a grin on her face.

Without any further discussion the trio retreated to Letty's house and headed straight to her room. They occupied their time by flipping through car magazines or playing video games. An elapsed when their ears finally heard the finally engine of Anthony's Chevelle SS.

"Man, I thought your dad was never going to come," Vince expressed as he peeked through the blinds to make certain it was him. "I'll catch you guys later, or tomorrow."

"Later V," Letty and Mia said in unison.

Just as Vince was walking out of the room a thought entered his mind. "Hey," Vince said excitedly. "Do you guys want to come out with me and Hector tonight? To the races?"

Letty and Mia looked at each, and then back at Vince. "Uh, hell yes."

It was just too exciting to not go.

"Sweet. Dom has been slacking, but maybe if he asks Suki nicely he'll be able to come tonight too," He chuckled.

"So, what time should we meet you outside?" Letty asked in a soft voice, taking persuasions just in cast her mom was nearby.

"Same time as always," Vince answered, adjusting the sound of his voice. "Hector was telling me about these news racers that showed up. They got this stuff called NOS and it supposedly makes their cars go faster. I want to see what all the fuss is about."

"Hmm," Letty pondered. The thought of new car enhancements intrigued her immensely and she suddenly couldn't wait for tonight.

"I'll see you guys tonight then," Vince said as he left the room. He quickly trudged downstairs and slide out the front toward.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Dom muttered a brief goodbye to Suki and exited the car without giving her a second glance. The day that had started out so well ended up turning bad the second he declined to spend the night at her house. He absolutely hated when she acted like that. He really didn't understand the source of her possessiveness. They spent all of their time together, so Dom felt little breaks away from each other were necessary, but, as always, Suki saw it differently and unfortunately a sign of something negative in their relationship.

"Hey dad, I'm home," he announced as he closed the front door behind him.

"Alright," his father answered. "Dinner will be ready in about an hour."

His frustrated mood suppressed any signs of an appetite, so he trudged upstairs to his room for a nap. As the upstairs hallway came into view Dom's eyes caught sight of Vince.

"What's going on, V?" Dom greeted him.

"Not much, bro. I was just getting ready, for, you know," he informed him with a certain look.

Dom nodded, knowing he was talking about the races. "You know what, I think I'm gonna get ready too."

Vince paused and leaned against the doorjamb to Dom's room. "What? You're actually going with me and Hector? Suki let you?"

Dom shook his head. "I think I need a Suki free night."

Vince snorted, "More like a Suki free week, or month. That girl has a strong hold on you, brother."

"Whatever," he said dismissively. "Let's kill some time," he suggested as he turned on his Nintendo.

"Nah, I'm sick of street fighter, put in Punch out. That's the only one I don't suck at," Vince said as he grabbed the other controller.

Their customary routine ensued on the nights they discretely slipped out of the house, which basically meant kill time until the old man went to bed. After dinner, and a few movies, the loud snoring that crept from Anthony's room was the signal they needed to know they were in the clear. As usual Dom remained downstairs to clean up and lock up all the windows and doors, while Vince went upstairs to his room to turn on the TV. They always left it on in case Anthony woke up in the middle of the night and wondered where exactly they were.

Dom joined Vince in his room five minutes later and immediately locked the door behind him.

"You ready, bro?" Vince asked eagerly. The news about NOS hitting the streets of Los Angeles had him excited for tonight. "I already called Hector and said we'd meet him at the corner in ten minutes."

Dom turned off the lamp beside his bed and walked over to the window. "Let's get going then."

Vince crept out of the window first and Dom followed immediately after, making sure to leave his window partly cracked open. They both silently crawled to the edge of the roof toward one of the tall post attached to the porch, maneuvered their way down to the grass.

"Hey, we gotta sneak over to Letty's house. Her and Mia are coming with us," Vince informed him as they started walking down the street.

Dom nodded as he followed Vince across the street. He was glad that he'd be able to hang out with Letty again, especially around the thing they loved most; cars.

Vince grabbed a few small pebbles from the ground and gently tossed them at Letty's window. Letty instantly pulled her blinds up and opened the window.

"Dude how are we going to get down from the roof?" Letty asked.

Vince and Dom both eyed the roof and its small porch. The posts were too large for them to grip and slide down like they did at Anthony's house.

"Shit, I never noticed how thick those posts were," Vince stressed. "Why don't you guys come through a downstairs window?"

"Nah," Dom interjected quickly. "It's not safe to leave the downstairs windows or doors unlocked. They gotta come from an upstairs one."

He continued looking over the height from the edge of the roof to the ground. It wasn't considerably high and he knew he and Vince would have no trouble hopping down from the roof to the ground, but his sister and Letty would. Then it hit him.

"Hey, Vince, we'll do it like this: hop onto the porch rail and help them down from the edge of the roof," Dom instructed. They both were tall enough to touch the edge of the roof with their finger tips. All Letty and Mia had to do was slowly slide down and ease into their arms.

"Did you guys get that?" Vince asked as he and Dom hopped up onto the rail.

"Yeah," Letty whispered back to him as she and Mia crawl through the window. "I'm coming down first," she added as she slowly started lowering her feet.

Dom instinctively reached for her first and she slid effortless into his embrace. She fit so perfectly in his arms that he couldn't help but smile. He was glad that it was dark enough for his facial expression to be hidden; otherwise she and Vince would have seen the goofy expression displayed on his face. He didn't know what it was, but Letty sporadically brought out the weirdest feelings in him.

"Thanks, Dom," Letty whispered to him as she freed herself and jumped onto the grass.

Next up was Mia and she mimicked Letty's same movements into Vince's arms. When all of their feet touched the ground the wasted no time in meeting Hector and his cousin Phillip around the corner. All four of them piled into the backseat, and because it was so small, one of them needed to sit on someone's lap.

"I got my own seat," Vince yelled first.

"So do I," Dom added.

"Sorry, Letty, but I'm not sitting on my brother's lap. That is just too weird. And, no offense Vince, but you remind me of pigpen from Charlie Brown," Mia announced as she took the middle seat in-between Dom and Vince.

Letty sighed, "Well then I'm sitting on your lap, Mia."

"Nah, uh. My clothes will get wrinkled," she quickly explained.

"Man, hurry up and sit down. I want to get going," Phillip ordered from the driver seat. He was anxious to see how much of an improvement NOS had on cars.

Letty glared at him before flopping down on Dom's lap, who was smirking throughout the whole ride.

Saturday night drag racing was packed as usual. Dom, Hector, Letty, Mia, and Vince blended in with the crew Phillip hung out with and joined in on the conversation. It was no surprise that all the cliques were talking about the racer that was going to debut with his NOS tanks. The consensus about NOS amongst the racers was significantly divided. Some felt it took away from the 'sport', that it was an easy way out to go faster. And that a real, skilled driver didn't need to add enhancements to their vehicles to win. While others simply saw it as the newest and hottest trinket, as if it were the latest tires or rims.

"I bet it's like giving your car steroids," Vince expressed.

Dom and Letty—who were all for going fast by any means necessary—laughed hysterically.

"Seriously, Vince. You're comparing it to steroid juice?" Letty managed to ask through her giggles.

Vince shrugged his shoulders. "Well what else would you compare it to? It's like a runner taking steroids to run faster. They've giving the cars roids." He seemed to be the only one among them that was skeptical about these NOS tanks implanted into the cars.

"Maybe seeing it in action will change your mind," Dom told him as they climbed back in Phillip's car to reach the actual racing destination.

The night's particular bets were drastically different. Everyone was weary to go up against something they had yet to see in action. This was the first head to head race they had in a long time. Even side bets were at a crawl. People merely had an idea about NOS, but were not going to bet any money on or against it until they saw its performance first hand.

As the only two racers of the night lined up the whole crowd's anticipation intensified. Some people were even antsy enough to heckle the guy in charge of the 'go' signal. And when they sped off from the line the crowd wasn't yelling and cheering at the top of their lungs. In fact, it was rather timid. Everyone's eyes were intently focused on the car with the NOS, just waiting for something spectacular to happen.

Halfway through the race, people were on the verge of bad mouthing NOS. The race didn't appear any different than others. The car with NOS tanks wasn't significantly ahead, like they assumed it would be. If anything, it was only ahead by a bumper's length. But as the quarter-mile was quickly coming to a close, the big push they were waiting for manifested as they saw the car surge ahead at lightning speed, with flames shooting out of both mufflers. The entire crowd was awestruck, speechless as their brains tried to fathom what their eyes just witnessed. And, when it did register, everyone erupted in a roar of cheers.

As the racer slide out of his car and collected his money, everyone—no matter what clique they were from—encircled and praised him like he was a king. Dom looked on with intense fascination, and he knew, that's exactly what he wanted. He then shifted his gaze to Vince.

"Now Vince, tell me you wouldn't want any of that 'juice' for your car."

"Eh, I guess it isn't so bad," he confessed. "I mean, if everyone is going to have it, then I guess it would be a fair race."

Dom smirked knowing that Vince too craved the spotlight. But before any more celebration could take place the screaming of, "Cops!" had everyone dispersing from the scene.

Vince and Dom quickly ushered Mia and Letty to Phillip's car and climbed into the back seat.

"Man, did you see how fast that guy's car went when the NOS kicked in?" Hector asked excitedly from the passenger seat.

"Yeah, it was amazing," Letty agreed, remembering the flames that came out from the muffler.

The latest events they witnessed at the races had them so enthralled throughout the ride home. Growing up could not happen soon enough. They wanted their own cars, to be the fastest to ever do it, to be envied by their peers, to compete with other racers as they pleased, and to win. They craved that excitement, that adrenaline, and popularity. It was already becoming ingrained in their minds to be regulars of race scene.

By the time Phillip dropped them off on their block, they were all too excited to separate just yet. So, Vince and Dom took a gamble and accompanied Mia to Letty's room through the roof. If Anthony did discover they were gone, it was better to be caught a few houses down than with illegal street racers.

"It has to be ignited by a button of some sort," Letty inquired. She, Vince, and Dom wanted to learn everything possible about NOS, how it was assembled into a car, and how to use it while driving.

"I think so too," Dom agreed and then started laughing, "A timer to release the NOS just doesn't make sense."

Vince scowled and threw a pillow at Dom's face. "Hey, it's not an impossible theory."

Letty chuckled, "Vince, I doubt it comes with a timer that you can set to release the NOS. It's not a bomb."

Vince snorted. "Whatever. Knowitalls."

They remained awake for the next few hours, talking about the cars they wanted, where they'd place the NOS, who they would challenge, and how much money they'd make. They talked cars until their brains forced them to sleep.

Dom's eyes fluttered open as the first light of the day began peeking through the blinds. He lifted his head and peered around the room and remembered he was at Letty's house. _Fuck,_ he mentally cursed himself as he got to his feet. At some point during the night he and Vince passed out on Letty's floor. He knew that he and Vince needed to get home quick before his dad woke up.

"Vince," he whispered and tapped his shoulder.

His only response was an annoyed grunt.

Dom sighed and hissed, "Vince!"

Another grunt and this time he rolled over on his side.

Dom shook his head and finally decided to shove Vince with the tip of his shoe that sent him flopping over on his face.

Vince's eyes quickly snapped open and sat up defensively. When his eyes focused and recognized Dom he breathed a sigh of relief. "Bro, what the hell are you doing to me?" he questioned sleepily.

Dom ignored his question. "Come on, we gotta get the hell outta here and go back home before my dad kicks our asses. Hurry up," he instructed as he climbed out of Letty's window.

They both silently padded across the roof and discretely hung from the ledge before maneuvering themselves down to the ground.

When it was time to climb yet another roof Vince waved his hand dismissively at Dom. "Ah, fuck this. I'm too tired to climb another roof. I'll wait for you by the front door."

Dom didn't bother arguing with him and climbed into his window as quick as he could. While in his room, he kicked off his shoes and swapped his jeans for basketball shorts just in case he bumped into his dad in the hallway, or on the stairs. He cracked his door open and strained his ears to hear any signs of his father. He was relieved when he heard the shower running in his room and hastily trekked downstairs to let Vince inside.

He mumbled a thank you to Dom before slipping his shoes off and collapsing back into a comatose state on the couch.

As Dom navigated his way back to his room he began reflecting on the night's events. It felt refreshing to not having Suki glued to his hip or analyze his every move around the opposite sex. It felt even better to hang out with the original core of friends—especially with Letty. He was really lucky—and thankful—that she had been so forgiving. It made him think twice about ever doing anything wrong to her again. He was simply happy that they were reconnecting their way back to best friends. As his head touched his pillow, it made him sad to know that she was leaving in a little less than a month. So, as his eyelids finally closed he knew that he wanted to make the best of the short time he had left with her.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Three weeks and six days manifested and disappeared all too quickly for Dom. Slowly but surely, he and Letty started falling back into their old best-friend routine—and to Dom's surprise—Suki didn't make a big fuss about it like she had done in the past. He assumed it was because of what he 'proved' to her throughout the school year. He hoped it wasn't because she knew that Letty was leaving soon and wouldn't have to deal with her anymore. But, whatever it was, he wasn't complaining at the moment. He only wished it could have been like this from the beginning.

Letty was leaving the next day, so it was only fitting that her mother, Anthony, and her best friends threw her a going away party. There were mounds of food, great music, and loads of sugary drinks to keep everyone up for days. There was no drama, no tears, just an overall blissful mood—at least until the party began to wind down.

"You know, I'll be expecting a party like this when I get back," Letty said as she licked her fingers clean of barbecue sauce.

"If there's as much food as there was tonight, then I say yes," Vince concurred as he tossed his kernelless corn into the trash.

Anthony chuckled and teased, "Sure, as long as the kids clean up the mess."

"Speaking of cleaning, we should start doing that," Anna interrupted and eyed Letty. "You have an early flight tomorrow."

Letty merely nodded and gathered her paper plate to dump it in the trash. Everyone else followed suit and the backyard was cleaned up within twenty minutes.

"I'm gonna head over to the house and make sure you have everything you need in your suitcases. Say your goodbyes and head straight home," Anna informed her daughter before turning to Anthony. "And you kind sir, thank you for everything. You've always treated Letty so well."

"You're welcome. And it's really nothing. Letty's a good kid," he said, winking at her.

When Anna left and Anthony disappeared into the kitchen to store leftovers, Dom, Vince, and Mia began saying their goodbyes.

It took less than a minute for Mia's eyes to prick with tears. "So, I said I wasn't going to cry, but you know me," her voice shaky from trying to fight back her tears. "It's not like you're not coming back, but………I'm so gonna miss you, girl," she sputtered out and engulfed Letty into a huge.

Letty smiled at Mia's sensitivity. "Don't worry. I'll call……a lot," she reassured her. "And there's no way that I'm not gonna miss you, Mia."

After a few moments, Mia finally pulled away. "You better, or else," she threatened.

"It's only three months, Mia. Relax," Vince interrupted, and playfully pushed Mia to the side so he could hug Letty. He tried to lighten the mood by mimicking Mia's sobs, which gained a few chuckles. "But, seriously, we'll miss you Letty," he confessed. "Oh, and you remember the right cross I showed you, right?"

Letty giggled, "Yeah, man. I remember."

"Good, because I don't have that kind of money to fly all the way to Hawaii and kick some guy's ass," he reminded her. "So, I'll see you soon, Let."

"Alright, V."

When it was Dom's turn, Mia and Vince decided they needed their goodbye by themselves, so they retreated to the kitchen to help Anthony with the leftovers.

Letty and Dom simply shook their heads at their shenanigans.

"These four weeks went by fast, huh?" Dom asked as he took a seat on the table.

"Yeah," Letty agreed as she sat next o him. "But, I'm glad it did, I'm excited to see my dad, and I guess Hawaii too."

Dom nodded mechanically. He wished he could agree with her, but couldn't. "Hey, if you happen to catch a glimpse of what racing is like over there, be sure to take notes and share them with us when you come back."

She smiled, "I will." Then something hit her. She never told Dom what her dad had gotten her. "Oh, Dom, I completely forgot to tell you. My dad got me a used car; the Nissan I wanted."

"You're kidding me?" he asked, completely stunned. "I'm actually a little jealous."

"Yeah, he said he was going to show me how to drive and everything," she explained enthusiastically. "That's another reason why I can't wait to get on that plane tomorrow."

Now, suddenly, he couldn't blame her wanting to leave. If he had a car waiting for him—one that he wanted so badly—he'd be just as excited. "That's great, Letty. And, now you're on step closing to racing," he informed her. "Now the rest of us need to catch up."

"Letty, your mom called. I think you know what she said," Anthony yelled from the kitchen.

Dom looked over at her and offered a crooked smile. "Well, I guess I better say bye then." He instantly wrapped one arm around her tiny frame and pulled her close. "I'll miss you, Letty. And," he paused, cleared his throat before continuing, "I'd be lying if I said I hope these three months fly by."

Letty smiled and teased, "Don't worry, softie. I'll make Mia pass the phone to you too when I call."

Dom laughed, "Well shit, that's the last time I tell you anything serious."

They both rose from the table and planted their feet on the ground, Dom's arm still protectively wrapped around her.

"Well, I'll see you Letty, and try not get into too much trouble," he said before planting a soft, gently kiss on her temple. And, he didn't know why, but he let his lips linger a little long against her skin.

Before Letty allowed her mind to over-analyze the situation, she detached herself from Dom's hold. She was not about to have those overly friendly feelings again. The last time she had she just ended up being disappointed.

"Bye, Dom," she whispered, before walking away.

The next morning, Dom was reluctant to get out of bed. For the first time ever, he didn't jet from the house on the first day of summer and go look for mischief with his best-friends. He laid there in bed for a few minutes, trying to think of ways to prepare his mind for the next three months. Just when he had reconnected with Letty, proof, she was gone again. Only this time there was nothing he could do about it, but wait.

When he did wrestle the sheets off his body, he lazily sauntered over to his window, and peered down the street toward Letty's house. The curtains were closed and the car was gone, she was gone. She was probably on a plane flying across the ocean right now.

_You're capable of keeping your mind occupied,_ he mentally told himself, as he pried himself away from the treated her like she hardly existed for months, so three months without Letty should be a breeze.

Before showering, he grabbed a red marker from his dresser and blotted a tiny dot on the day's date.

The rest of the day he kept himself preoccupied with Vince, Hector, and other friends from school. They caught a flick, went to the arcade, and even went to the beach for a swim. But, by the time the day was over, Dom found he kept sporadically hovering near the phone, waiting for it to ring. He had to admit, that when Letty wasn't on the other end of the phone, he went to bed a little disappointed.

The next day, and the few that followed, he, Vince, and Hector managed to get a little routine going. He also made sure to make time for Suki and whatever she felt like doing. And while all of it kept his mind busy, it was never really quite satisfying. Their outings and fun didn't quite feel complete with one of their crucial friends missing in action. But, the highlight of the week came when Letty called toward the weekend. She spoke to everyone briefly, reiterating each time of how great the scenery was, how the people were so friendly, and how her car needed some major wrench time. The only parts of the conversation he disliked were when she had to hang up.

What served as even more of a distraction was that late night racing that extended before—and sometimes beyond—the weekend. However, being in that atmosphere triggered the thought of Letty the most. He wondered what she would think of certain cars and racers, or if she would laugh at some of the newcomers just as he did. His mind would wonder if she was begging her dad for the racer modifications.

With his distractions and sporadic calls throughout the months, Letty's lack of presence of became easier.

And he wasn't sure why, but he kept doing the same thing every morning since she left: blotting a little red dot on each day.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Dom woke from his peaceful slumber and automatically walked over to his calendar to make a mark on the day's date. After two months, it was becoming a customary ritual to do in the morning, as if it were the same as showering or brushing his teeth. He simply had to do it.

As he began picking out the clothes he was going to wear he heard a knock on his door.

"Come in," he said.

To his surprise, it was Suki. She immediately ran to and threw her arms around his neck. "God, I missed you," she purred into his ear. "One week felt like an eternity, right?"

Dom squeezed back, "Yeah. But was a week with your dad really that bad?"

She pulled away, "Uh, yeah. You weren't there."

Dom merely chuckled, "Well, let me shower and get dressed so we can go get into some trouble."

He quickly brushed his lips with hers and before making his way into the bathroom.

Suki plopped onto his bed and flipped through one of his car magazines to keep herself occupied. But, after about five minutes, she gave up on reading and starting looking around the room for something else. As she continued to scan the room her eyes fell onto the calendar. She immediately narrowed her eyes as she noticed little blotches of red. Her heart nearly melted at what she saw. It was the first week of August—the same days that she was gone—that had been marked as if he was counting down the days for her return.

She quickly walked over to the calendar and ran her fingers along the small dots. "He did miss me," she whispered giddily to herself.

As she retracted her hand away from it the calendar suddenly fell to the floor, with the page turning back to the previous month.

Suki's eyes didn't catch it at first, but as she bent to pick it up she saw them, little red dots throughout the previous month. Her brows furrowed in confusion as she flipped the page backward again to see when the dots first began.

The date that they began on infuriated her beyond belief.

* * *

**A/N:** Thank you to everyone who continually reviews each chapter, despite the few-and-far-between-updates. They really are the fuel that keeps the fic alive, so, they're definitely appreciated.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note:** Long overdue update, I know. College has been kicking my ass, but hopefully people are still checking for this story because I intend on finishing it. Enjoy ;)

* * *

Hatred filled Suki's eyes as she gazed intently at the little red markings. Each one a reminder of how significant Letty was in Dom's life. Even from afar, Letty still managed to wedge between them, and it pissed her off that Dom allowed it. It only made her blood feel as though it was boiling. Her own boyfriend was counting the days down for a reunion with another girl. She didn't like it, didn't agree with it, and didn't understand it. She figured anyone with a brain knew that was a no-no. But, this latest finding was finally showing her the light: that no matter what she did or said Letty would always be placed above her.

As soon as Suki hears the door to the bathroom open her fingers viciously crumble the calendar into a ball. Once Dom steps back inside his room to suggest plans for the day his face is quickly met with a scrunched up calendar.

"What the hell is your problem?" Dom roared, rubbing his face where he was hit.

"You're my problem," she yelled back. "You are such a liar and the worst boyfriend a girl could ever have!"

Dom furrowed his brows intensely. "What?" he asked confused. "What the hell happened from when I left to shower and now?"

"Letty, that's who happened. It's always been Letty. Nobody can compete with her. You hold her on a high pedal stool above your own girlfriend."

"Oh, not this shit again," Dom sighed as he threw up his hands. "How many times do I have to tell you that we're just friends? She's not my girlfriend."

"Save it," Suki tersely replied. "That is getting extremely old. If she's not your girlfriend, then why are you counting down the days until she returns, huh? You claim you missed me while I was gone, but it's clear who you really miss."

"Look—"

"No," she cut him off quickly. "I'm sick of hearing excuse after excuse about why you place Letty above your own girlfriend. You always have some tired ass excuse for why you go the extra mile for her. You have feelings for her and there's no other way around it. I deserve someone who is going to put me first. I'm sick of it all. We're done, Dom."

"Oh come on, Suki. Let's at least talk about this," Dom pleaded. He didn't want things to end like this. He really did have feelings for her and genuinely cared.

However, Suki refused to believe it. Without another word spoken she stormed out of the Toretto house and slammed the front door so hard that it made Dom flinch.

"Great," Dom huffed as he sank back into his bed.

A few moments later Vince burst into his room. "Just passed your girlfriend coming up the porch steps. So what was that? Like fight number eight-thousand-nine-hundred-and-sixty-two?"

Dom merely eyed his friend. "Wow, someone has been practicing their numbers. I'm surprised you got that all in one breath."

Vince chuckled and punched Dom in the arm, "Fuck you. At least I don't have an insane girlfriend."

"Ex-girlfriend," Dom corrected as shoved Vince with his foot.

"You're lying."

"Nah. We're done, as she so eloquently put it," Dom informed him.

Vince looked surprised. "Wow, can't believe she finally let go. At some point I thought she was going to want to surgically attach herself to your hip."

"Shut up, V."

"So what exactly pissed her off enough to dump your ass?" Vince inquired as he jumped up and sat on Dom's dresser.

Hesitant to tell him what broke the camel's back Dom tried changing the subject. "Hey, why don't we go down to the beach today?"

"Sure," Vince agreed and then smirked. "But after you tell me what happened."

"Ah, come on V. Don't start getting girly on me by craving gossip."

Vince snorted. "Nah, uh, don't try that on me. Spill it, bro."

Knowing that Vince was not going to let up Dom ended up explaining quickly. "I had been marking down the days on my calendar until Letty comes back. She saw it and blew it."

Vince immediately started laughing hysterically. "Wait. Marking down the days on the calendar? Seriously, bro? And you're the one accusing me of turning girly?"

"That's the last time I tell your immature ass something," Dom said bitterly.

"Ah, calm down Dominique. I'm just teasing you," Vince managed to say as his laughter slowly began to still.

"Anyway," Dome continued, ignoring his friend's laughter. "She got pissed and accused me of having feelings for Letty. Said she was tired of having to compete with her and said we were done."

"Do you have feelings for her?"

Dom looked at his friend in confusion. "What? Are you serious with that question, Vince? Don't tell me you're becoming as delusional as Suki."

"What? It's not a far-fetched question," Vince bluntly stated. "I mean you guys are _real_ close, and the whole calendar thing is something I'd only imagine corny ass couples doing."

"I think you're reading too much into the calendar markings. And I'm done talking about this," Dom replied as he grabbed a beach towel. "Now, I'm going to the beach with or without you."

Vince knew better than to press on any further, so he simply changed into proper swimwear and joined Dom to the beach.

While Vince mingled with the girls that peppered throughout the sandy beach, Dom relaxed on his beach towel watching the ebb and flow of the tide with one question repeating in his head. _Do you have feelings for her? _Well, duh, he thought to himself. They were best friends, but beyond that? The answer wasn't quite as clear, even though he profusely told Suki otherwise. Now that he actually had time to think about it he wasn't so sure that he didn't. In fact, he found himself going over countless memories that involved Letty. He vividly recalled those strange moments of unfamiliar feelings—stomach doing flips, his heart fluttering—towards her.

"Yo," Vince's voice boomed through Dom's reverie. "Guess who got us invited to Melody's pool party tonight?" he asked with a devilish grin.

Dom blinked a few times as he resurfaced from his thoughts. "What? Who?"

Sighing, Vince informed him. "You know, Melody. She goes to our school. She's was in our P.E. class. You know, the one with the big," he explained as he motioned to his chest.

"Oh, her" Dom smiled devilishly as he remembered who exactly she was. "Nice."

"I know, I know," Vince bragged as he dusted imaginary sand off of himself.

Dom and Vince only spent a few more hours at the beach mingling with fellow students on summer vacation. It seemed like everyone was invited to this party and neither of them could wait. When they arrived back home Anthony had them do a few chores and killed the rest of the day at Hector's house—who they were supposedly spending the night with.

When the time came for them to get ready for the party a thought that eluded Dom earlier seeped into his mind.

He looked at his friends nervously. "Hey, what if Suki is at the party?"

"Then you're in for a long night," Hector answered quickly. "She'll accuse you of all kinds of shit, like 'you just couldn't wait to get with another girl' and blah blah blah."

Vince chuckled while he shook his head. "Don't listen to him Dom. Suki is most likely at home crying. She probably spent the whole day tearing up all the pictures of you two, gathering up all the shit you bought her, and has plans to burn everything tonight."

"I hope you're right, Vince. I think," Dom responded skeptically.

Taking Vince's advice—which was extremely rare—Dom continued getting ready.

In the next thirty minutes they—Dom, Vince, Hector, and Phillip—arrived at their destination.

When they entered the house their ears were met with laid-back, smooth west coast tunes that vibrated throughout the house. As their eyes scanned through the sea of people their lips curled into broad grins because every girl there was wearing a bikini. And if that wasn't a clear indication of a fun and eventful night, the endless amount of beer and liquor was.

Immediately, all of them navigated toward the booze to retrieve what would become their signature drink—Corona. After satisfying their taste buds each of them went their separate ways. Typical Vince instinctively began mingling with a group of girls next to the pool, Hector and Phillip joined a few girls from their racing crew, while Dom got whisked away by the host of the part to dance.

Most of the guys fell comfortably into their usual routine—flirting, drinking, and dancing with different girls—but for Dom it was an experience that eluded the minute he started dating Suki. And, if he was honest with himself, he would admit that he missed the feeling.

An hour into the party Dom and Vince found they were ready to finally venture into the pool with the lovely ladies.

Vince quickly removed his shirt and was going for his pants when Dom's statement stopped him.

"Shit, I didn't bring my swimming shorts."

Vince immediately rolled his eyes and face palmed, "Bro, that's a good thing. Do you not see these girls in the pool? Do you think they give a shit if you're wearing proper gear? No. Besides, these touchy feely girls are not going to mind boxers."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Dom admitted.

"Of course I'm right. You've just been tied down for way too long. You need to get back in the game."

As Dom began reaching for the hem of his shirt the face he feared he would encounter caught his eyes.

Sitting in the hot tub with a group of guys was Suki. Her demeanor from earlier had completely transformed. There she was laughing and appearing completely blissful.

In the midst of her good time her eyes lifted and caught sight of him. Panic was on the verge of overtaking Dom, in fear that Suki was going to make a huge scene, but instead, she merely rolled her eyes in disgust and averted her attention away from him.

Dom was completely appalled by her demeanor. He mentally kicked himself for feeling sorry for the way things ended between them. It looked like she could not wait to be freed as well.

Shrugging off his temporary shock, Dom stripped down to his boxers, entered the pool, and acted the same way Suki did—as if she didn't exist.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The final month of summer resumed and Dom occasionally bumped into Suki. The usual routine was her momentarily giving him an evil glare and resume life as if he did not exist. Dom merely shrugged it off; he was done dealing with the immaturity. For the most part he and Vince spent the summer relaxing, hanging out in the race scene, and making a few new friends.

As the final week of summer materialized Dom found himself excited for Letty's return. He could not wait to introduce her to the new race connects, new hang out spots, and new car maneuvers he learned from his dad. Their tight knit team was going to be complete again.

Three days before Letty's arrival date, Dom found Mia in the kitchen crying in her father's arms.

Concerned, he asked. "What's going on? Did something happen?"

His father sighed, "She's crying because Letty-"

His heart momentarily dropped to his stomach in fear that something bad had happened to her, until Mia's voice cut in.

"Letty is staying in Hawaii. She's going to live on the base with her dad. She's not coming back," Mia sadly informed him.

"Just until Juan finishes out his final year with. Then he'll be discharged and Letty will come back," their father quickly added, hoping it would lessen the blow.

Dom was too shocked to speak. First he thought something horrible had happened to her because of Mia's grim expressions and vast torrents of tears running down her face. Turns out it wasn't that bad, only it felt like it was. His best friend—whom he had been counting down the days for—wasn't coming home just yet.

He felt disappointed.

Feeling anger rise in his system he bitterly expressed, "Good for her. I'm going to bed."

Without another word spoken he trekked up stairs, headed straight for the calendar he de-crinkled months ago and tore it up.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Fast and Furious or its characters. This fictitious work is for entertainment purposes only.

**AN:** _I know, it's been FOREVER. I've been so busy with school, but now that I'm on spring break, I'm going to try and write and much as possible. There's only a few chapters left. But I do have another story in the works. I can't wait to share it with all of you :) Again, a big thank you to those who continue to check for this story and continue to review!_

* * *

Letty's big announcement to stay in Hawaii with her father rattled the Toretto household significantly. Vince, Mia, and Dom felt they had the right to act selfish, considering all the time they waited for her return. They missed their friend. Since her absence, their whole unit never quite felt complete, and they were all anxiously waiting to change that.

For the first month, it was Anthony taking Letty's phone calls. He constantly assured her that everyone would come to terms with her decision, and would be on speaking terms soon enough. Even though it felt like an eternity for Letty, Anthony was right, for the most part.

The beginning of the second month of school, Mia finally caved in. After spending a few hours at the garage, her father routinely dropped her off at home to start prepping for dinner. It was while she was chopping veggies that the phone rang. She briefly thought of ignoring it in case that it was Letty, but then said 'the hell with it' and answered.

She picked up the receiver and quickly asked, "Hello?"

"Mia!" an excited Letty yelled. She almost sounded relieved to finally hear someone else finally answer the phone. She adored Anthony and the conversation he offered when she called, but it paled in comparison to what she shared with her friends.

The small twinge of bitterness that Mia was still holding onto was telling her to just hang up the phone, but the tone in Letty's voice stopped her.

"Hey," Mia said dismissively.

"It seems like it's been forever since we last talked," Letty admitted.

"Yeah, and it's going to be even longer since we see you again," Mia pointed out, trying her best not to sound bitter.

Letty sighed heavily into the phone. "I'm sorry, Mia. I really do miss you all. I can't wait to see everyone and hang out like we used."

"You have a funny way of showing it by staying longer."

"Please understand, Mia." Letty pleaded. She hated hearing this side her. "I haven't seen my dad in a really long time. We're catching up and it's great. Of all people, I thought you would understand the most."

Both ends of the phone went quiet after that statement. Mia was analyzing the situation in her head and truly placed herself in Letty's shoes. What if the roles had been reverse? What if Anthony had joined the military and she barely saw her father? The act of empathy seemed to work, because just like that, Mia could no longer hold anything against her friend anymore.

Mia finally sighed into the phone, "I do understand, Letty. I just miss the hell out of you. And…sorry for ignoring your calls."

Letty smiled broadly and breathed a sigh of relief. She simply could not picture her life without any of the Torettos in it now. "Thanks, girl."

Now that everything seemed to be resolved between them, Mia brushed aside her prepping duties and took a seat on one of the stools.

"So, what's the eighth grade like over there? Still the same ole boys?" Mia asked curiously.

And that's all it took to get back into the swing of things. They talked for hours, catching up on the weeks they lost. Letty informed Mia about the work her and her dad have been putting into her car, how much more she's grown to love the beach, and how laid back school is. Mia informed Letty how it was pretty much the same ole boys and environment in junior high. She adamantly expressed to Letty that all the action and excitement had to be in High School. She even made Letty swear on every religious saint that she would be back to start high school with her. She also told Letty about Vince and Dom, and how they thought they were hot shit because they were no longer freshmen, but they still snuck out occasionally to see the latest modifications and trends in the street racing scene.

Their lengthy conversation finally ended when Mia heard her father's car pull into the driveway. She said goodbye to Letty and promised to start calling more often. After today, they both knew their usual routine would commence again. After finally getting up from the stool to put the receiver back on, she eyed the progress she had made since she got home. She quickly ran around the counter and continued chopping, but at a much faster pace.

Anthony walked into the kitchen to retrieve a glass of water and greeted his daughter. "Hey sweetie. How's prepping going?"

Mia bit her lip and chopped a little faster. "Uh, you know, it's going."

"You just about done?" he asked. He wanted to get started right away. Homemade raviolis took some time and he was relieved that he had such a willing helper around the house.

"Almost," she lied.

Anthony grabbed his apron and began tying it. "Good. Did you make the dough? Where is it at?"

_Shit! _Mia mentally cursed herself. "I didn't get around to it yet," she confessed.

Her father gave her a confused looked as he looked up at the clock hanging in the kitchen. "You've had hours, Mia. What happened?"

Mia looked at her father with a guilty face. "I got caught up in a phone conversation with Letty."

Anthony sighed and was just about to lecture her about committing to what you sign up for, but when he heard that it was with Letty, he refrained. He leaned against the counter and smiled. "So you too finally made up, huh?"

Mia returned a broad smile. "Yeah, she's like my sister."

Anthony was relieved they made up, now the boys just needed to come around. "Good. Letty's a good girl and no sense in ending a good friendship over something so silly."

"I know dad, and I'll talk to Vince and Dom about it too."

Anthony nodded," Good. Now, let's see what the heck we're going to make for dinner now."

The two settled for spaghetti and meatballs, even though Anthony got to make his own homemade sauce, it killed him to have to you use store bought pasta. Either way, both father and daughter finished just as Dom and Vince walked into the door.

"What's up everybody," Vince greeted.

"Hey pop, Mia, I brought over a guest," Dom announced.

Both Mia and her father looked at each other, as though they were not surprised. For the past two weeks, Dom had occasionally been bringing a few different girls home from school. It was as though this school year, he made a point to turn into a real Casanova.

Anthony went to the dinner area first, taking the big bowl of spaghetti and meat balls to the table.

"Smells real good, pop," Dom said as he took of whiff of the steams coming from the plate. He and his 'friend' were already seated at the table.

His father ignored his comment and stuck out his hand to introduce himself to their guest. Even though he was sure he would never see this girl again, she was still a guest and deserved to be treated with respect. "Excuse my rude son, I'm Anthony, his father. And you are?"

The petite brunette smiled sweetly as she shook Anthony's hand, "I'm Janelle. It's so nice to me."

"Likewise. I hope you like spaghetti."

"I do," she answered politely. "It smells delicious."

Mia came into the dining room next, just as Vince took his usual seat. As she set down a basket full of homemade garlic cheese bread, she rolled her eyes at her brother and the fact that he used family dinners as his dates. She took a seat beside Vince and adjacent from her father and greeted Dom's date.

"Oh, hi Julie," Mia greeted with a huge fake smile. "Nice to see you back again. I see you can't enough of our father's cooking."

Vince fought back his laughter, Anthony closed his eyes for a moment and sighed because he knew what was coming, and Dom's eyes went wide in shock. He couldn't believe his sister just did that. His jaw tensed and he quickly addressed his sister.

"Mia, this is _Janelle_," Dom tersely corrected.

Mia played dumb and acted as though she felt bad, "Oh, I'm so, so sorry. Julie was from the other day. You two look so alike."

Dom wanted to throw his plate at his sister. He felt like he was at school and one of his friends was cock blocking. He couldn't believe this was happening. His sister was so going to pay. But, before the two siblings could go at each other's throats, Anthony quickly suggested praying. He kept it short by quickly thanking God for great family, friends, and food before everyone served themselves.

The first couple of minutes were tense, with Mia and Dom menacingly eyeing each other as shoved spaghetti and garlic bread in the mouth. Everyone just watched them silently, waiting for one or the other to initiate something, but it never came. Finally, Anthony broke the silence, and spoke to their guest, asking typical 'get-to-know-your-guest-questions'. When he finally ran out of questions Mia finally informed them about Letty.

"I finally talked to Letty today," Mia declared to Vince and Dom.

Dom stopped chewing, considered her words, and ignored them before averting his attention back to his plate. Vince, on the other hand, gave in and asked. "How is she?"

Mia glared at her brother briefly before answering Vince. "Good. She and her dad are constantly making little adjustments to her car. She says she's gotten a lot better at driving now that she's grown some more."

Everyone laughed at the last bit, except Dom. Mia decided to tune her brother's physical presence out and continued. She informed them all of the little trips her and her dad have taken, how school was going for herl\, and how she misses everyone. Dom tried his best to ignore his sister's voice but it kept penetrating every barrier he tried to put up. Finally he threw his fork on his plate, catching everyone by surprise. They all looked at him confused.

He annoyingly sighed. "Damn Mia, can you shut up about her already."

"Dominic, watch your mouth," Anthony barked at him.

"Sorry dad, but it's really annoying, and quite frankly a waste of breath," he angrily expressed.

Mia gasped; she couldn't believe he just said talking about Letty was a waste.

Anthony rose from his chair, ready to knock some sense into his son. "You're walking on thin ice now, boy. Letty is your friend! It's not like she's never coming back."

Dom scoffed. "Sorry, but my real friends stick around. Sorry for being blunt, but I only focus on those in the present."

Before Anthony could unleash his wrath upon him, Dom grabbed his 'date's' hand and made a quick getaway, leaving everyone to finish their meal talking about Letty. It was clear that he was still upset with her. He decided he wasn't going to spend the rest of the school year anxiously waiting for nothing. He refused to allow himself to build up all that excitement for her return again, only for there to be a possibility of it all being knocked down again. He forced his mind to believe that Letty was replaceable.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

After the big blow up at dinner, Dom stopped bringing girls around the house and opted to taking them to a friend's house. He didn't always sleep with them; sometimes he just made out with them while watching a movie, but unfortunately lied to his friends that he did. Most of the girls went along with it, Dom was extremely popular for being only a sophomore and a lot of it had to do with the constant appearance with Phillip's crew. Although, Dom couldn't wait to start participating in the race scene and most of all win. Recently, Phillip had been taking Vince, Hector, and Dom out in deserted areas to let them drive fast, race, etc. They applied what they learned from Phillip to their sessions with Anthony and got better. Now all Dom felt was that he needed his own car, but he wasn't sure when that would happen—especially with the recent stunt he pulled at dinner.

Months passed and Dom ignored the fact that conversations about Letty returned. He wasn't particularly happy that Vince followed suit with Mia and routinely started having weekly phone conversations with Letty. He teased him, calling him a girl, and choosing to have girl talk over his bros. Vince brushed it off though, he knew how Dom really felt and knew not to bring up Letty around him. He figured he would eventually come around.

However, it turned out they were all wrong. Dom went throughout the whole school year ignoring little tid bits about Letty's life in Hawaii. He avoided answering the telephone, didn't even glance at the pictures she sent that made there to the fridge, or read any of the letters she sent. While Letty was hurt by his actions, she wasn't going to dwell on them. It was typical for him to act childish and figured, if it was still worth it, she would straighten him out in person. He continued his casanova act and acted completely nonchalant the night Mia announced Letty would be returning within the first few days of summer break.

"Big deal," he bitterly stated. "I won't be here; I got plans at the beach." Plans which he kept.

The morning of Letty's big arrival Dom woke early and made his way to his friend David's house. Another 'bro' he met along the way through high school. They had plans to meet up with other classmates to mess around at the beach, play football, swim, etc, something to do to kick off the summer. Dom wanted to keep himself extremely occupied on this very day, which he did, until late afternoon when Vince finally joined him.

"Finally finished with your girly reunion," Dom teased.

"You're the one that's been pms'ing all year long, who's the real one acting like a female?" Vince shot back.

"Whatever," was all Dom's reply before they made their way to a nearby burger stand. They got their food and sat at one of the many wood tables that loitered right next to the beach. They ate in silence as they took in the scene at the beach, letting their snide comments toward each other fade away.

When they finished and gathered their trash to throw it away, Dom caught sight of what he thought was the sweetest ass he'd seen in awhile. Her back was to him, and he couldn't keep his eyes off of her and the way her smooth honey skin was radiating from the sun's rays. He was glad she was talking to Hector; it would make it easier to start a conversation with her. Dom quickly dumped his trash and jogged over to them, and Vince trailed behind, smirking maliciously.

Dom approached from behind and boldly yet seductively stated, "_Nice_ bikini."

The girl snorted as she spun around to face him. The color immediately drained from Dom's face. He couldn't believe who the body he was drooling over belonged to. His stomach started doing flips and he was unsure on how to proceed. Letty had changed significantly at the age of 15. Her was a lot longer, but still wavy. Her skin complexion looked so caramelized, it looked good enough to eat, and she definitely filled out in other places. He was dumbstruck. Vince came up laughing hysterically. He knew who it was that Dom was eyeing, having seen her that morning. He simply couldn't resist letting Dom continue with his course of action, and the expression he was wearing was well worth it.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer**: _I do not own the Fast and the Furious or its character. This fictitious work is for entertainment purposes only._

**A/N:** _Just thought I'd let everyone know there's only one chapter left. Hope you enjoy :)_

* * *

Letty allowed a wide grin to spread across her face as she learned that the voice belong to Dom. His voice changed, now sounding significantly deeper. He had grown a few inches as well, along with increasing his muscle mass. He and Vince must have been really putting hours in the gym over the past year. She was sure their efforts were primarily fueled by the opposite sex. The only thing that was still intact was his short cut hair. He changed a lot in just a year.

She closed the gap between them and lightly patted him on the shoulder as she snorted a laugh. "_Nice_ bikini? Dude, you need some better material." Letty didn't wait for a reply; she walked past him and joined Vince his laugh attack as they made their way to their beach towels.

When color did finally return to Dom's face it was in a shade of red. He felt completely embarrassed and was unsure if he should retreat to another part of the beach or suck it up and follow behind them. While he considered both options, he chose the latter, and walked over to their lounging spot on the beach. He figured it would only make it worse if he delayed facing the humiliation. _Might as well get it over with_, he thought.

As he stalked up to them, Letty could not help herself and smirked. "Hey sexy, _nice_ shorts."

Instantly, she and Vince started chuckling while Dom sighed. "I have a feeling you guys are going to play the shit out of that joke."

"Sorry bro, we're not going to let you live this one down," Vince assured him.

Dom rolled his eyes, "Whatever bro."

"You seriously pick up girls with cheesy lines like that?" Letty asked incredulously.

"Works every time," he answered confidently before adding a little jab, "except on defective girls."

Letty scoffed, she was expecting him to still act childish. In fact, she was pretty convinced that it was hardwired in every guy's brain when something did not go their way. "Oh, you mean except ones that have brains and aren't impressed by your physical appearance? Got it."

Dom merely glared at her as he tried to think of a snide enough retort, but Letty did not give him anymore of her time. "Come on V, let's go get wet," she suggested as she jumped to her feet and began walking toward the water.

Vince got to his feet to follow Letty to swim, but not before chunking up the peace sign to Dom. He only nodded and watched as he joined Letty at the shore. He couldn't believe she actually came back and looked as good as she did. He didn't want to just outright start being all buddy buddy again. She really let him down last year and wasn't feeling as forgiving as Vince and Mia. He felt he needed to make her feel like he had last year.

Dom sat in the sand for awhile watching Letty and Vince fool around in the shallow part of the water. Her skin looked even better glistening with beads of water all over it. He couldn't help himself from scanning her body as she ran, or the way the fabric of her drenched bikini clung in all the right places. There were even brief moments where he envied Vince because his hands got to touch her as he playfully tackled her in the water, or lifted her to launch her further out in the ocean. He drew in a deep breath as he tried to calm his hormones. It was going to be a lot more difficult to be mean to her than he planned.

As he continued to enjoy the view the presence of someone coming up beside him made him flinch. He looked up to see Mia.

She eyed him suspiciously, "What are you so focused on?"

"Nothing, damn," he quickly spat. The last thing he needed was Mia catching check out Letty. He already knew they would tell her about him hitting on her. This would only give them more ammunition to use against him.

Mia tossed her beach towel at his face for being so damn rude. She scanned the beach and instantly spotted Vince and Letty. Before she trekked down the sand to join them she addressed her brother. "Oh, and dad said be home by five-thirty. He's barbecuing for Letty."

"If I don't have any prior engagements I _might_ make it," he smiled sarcastically.

Mia placed her hands on her hips, "Dad said _you better_ be there." She smiled as she left him to consider making an appearance or facing their father's wrath.

Dom finally rose from the sand and sought out Hector, David and a few other friends. He needed some sort of distraction and they all settled on playing football in an isolated portion of the beach. It worked for about thirty minutes; he played quarterback and kept throwing pretty impressive passes to Hector and David. Dom also enjoyed the group of girls that showed up to cheer him and his team on. However, Vince showed up, eager to join the game and get to tackling. Dom wasn't surprised he brought Letty and Mia with him. With Vince joining the game, the teams became uneven and everyone suggested Letty partake in the game as well.

Dom didn't like the idea and had no problems expressing it, "Com'n fellas, seriously? We might as well let those chicks over there play then."

Vince was just about to grill Dom, but Letty was quicker. She was fiddling the pigskin in her hands when she heard Dom complaining and fired the ball at him like a bullet—which he caught, but not without stingy his hands. Letty never bragged but in this situation she felt it was necessary. "If any of those chicks can throw a ball like that, then go recruit em', if not, then shut the fuck up and let's play."

Dom already knew the answer and eventually resumed play, but not before swapping David for a player on the other side. He mumbled something about them needed all the help they could get. His team finally huddled together to set up a play and dispersed when they all agreed on one. Vince hiked the ball back to Dom, who waited for everyone to run in position. When he finally saw Hector get into the right spot he launched the ball into the air toward him. It looked as though the plan was going to be properly executed, the ball was traveling directly toward Hector, but just as he reached out his hands to catch it, Letty came out of nowhere and snatched the ball for an interception.

_Just my fucking luck_, Dom thought angrily as he prepared to play defensive.

Throughout the rest of the game Dom was convinced Letty was showing off. She played quarterback and threw the ball impressively, she switched to wide receiver at times, and much to his dislike, hiked the ball occasionally to David, who obviously enjoyed the view. It was clear when they lost that he made the mistake of swapping David to the other team, because the two of them were pretty unstoppable. Hector was an okay wide receiver, but sometimes he fumbled the ball at crucial moments, and all Vince was good for was tackling.

When the last game ended, it must have been getting close to five because Letty's dad showed up in a silver Nissan. It was clearly the one Letty had been talking about since before she left. Everyone said their goodbyes and Dom's ears caught a conversation between David and Letty that he did not particularly like.

"It was good meeting you, Letty. I've never met a girl who could play like that, ever," he sounded so amazed.

"Thanks, man. Good to meet you too. We make one hell of a team too," she replied with a high five.

"Oh, hell yeah," he agreed as he connected with her hand. "So, will I be seeing you for the rest of the summer?" he asked, sounding almost anxious.

"Most likely, and if you go to the same school as Vince then most likely there too when we start up again," she answered.

David looked pleased. "Nice. Man, when school starts I'm sure you're going to get hounded by all the guys."

Letty laughed carelessly. "I'm sure I'll manage. Later man."

Dom's jaw tensed as the last bit of their conversation. He didn't like the fact that his friend was basically admitted that he thought Letty looked damn fine too. He was jealous but would never admit it. As they started leave, Mia looked back at her brother, her eyes asking him to come with them. He shook his head and replied, "I'll catch a ride with Hector."

Mia just shook her head and climbed into the car with Vince and Letty.

By the time Dom left the beach it was six o' clock and by the time he got home it was six-thirty. He attempted to quickly jog upstairs and clean up from all the sand and salty water, but his father's voice stopped him.

"You were supposed to be home an hour ago," Anthony informed him with a stern face.

"I got caught up in a football game, sorry dad," he half-assed an excuse.

His father just started at him. "Well hurry and get back down here, we've already started eating."

"Well, see I'm not late after all, just in time to eat," he said with a smile.

"Yeah, and you'll be here just in time to clean up everything afterwards too," he told him curtly before joining everyone out back.

Dom sighed as he made his way upstairs and jumped in the shower. He dressed quickly and maneuvered outside to serve himself a plate and join everyone at the table. There was an open seat beside Letty but he pulled up another chair up and sat beside Vince instead. "What's up everyone," he greeted before solely focusing on his dad's succulent barbecue.

They all greeted him and resumed talking about the engine and little modifications Letty and her dad have been making to her car. Her dad wants it to be perfection by the time she gets her license. Throughout it all Dom kept his attention on his food, devouring barbecued chicken, tri-tip, and potato salad. He would only nod occasionally to make some sort acknowledgement so he wouldn't come off as rude. Eventually Anthony and Juan took their conversation over to the garage on the side of the house—no doubt to talk about cars—leaving Vince, Mia, Letty and Dom at the table.

When their conversation seemed to slow and Dom finished his second plate he finally joined in. "So Letty, when are you guys going back to Hawaii? Soon?"

"They just got here you, asshole," Mia snapped from across the table before marching inside the house. Vince and Letty quickly followed her to comfort her and get away from Dom's negative energy. He was becoming quite annoying.

Without anyone to agitate any further he opted to start cleaning up before he heard more grief from his dad. He grabbed a couple of trash bags and started throwing soda cans and a few beer bottles in one, paper plates, plastic utensils and napkins in the other. He finished rather quickly because this barbecue had been exclusive and the whole block wasn't invited or friends from school, or else clean up would have been a total bitch.

Dom walked back into the house hoping to watch a little TV before settling down in his room, but there they were watching one of his favorite horror movies, _Nightmare on Elm Street. _This was one of those rare occasions when he hated not having cable in his room_. _Rather than sit on the opposite side of the room, he chose not to be within in the same vicinity as them and went straight upstairs. He attempted to flip through car magazines to keep himself occupied, he was nowhere near being tired. Then he started to straighten out his room a little bit, picking up a few magazines from the floor, separating dirty clothes from cleans ones, but in the end it wasn't enough. His mind still kept wandering to Letty, her sitting downstairs on his couch, and the events from today.

Feeling as though he might go insane with his thoughts, Dom got up and went straight to the phone in the kitchen. He hit up David in hopes that there was something going on tonight that he could get into. Luckily there was, some junior/senior party happening at someone's house whose parents were out of town. He immediately told David to count him in and hit up Hector. When his ride was in place he called out to the living room.

"Yo, Vince, get over here," he demanded.

"What's up Mr. PMS," Vince greeted as he entered the kitchen.

"Party tonight, you in? Hector is going to pick us up at ten-thirty," Dom asked and informed.

"Hell yeah," Vince answered quickly before asking, "You want me to ask Mia and Let-"

"Sure as hell don't," he instantly interjected when he heard Letty's name forming. "Besides," he added, "it's for juniors and seniors only."

"Alright," Vince said reluctantly. He wasn't in the mood to argue with him. He knew very well none of that senior only bullshit never went according to plan. Everyone form freshmen to seniors showed up at all the parties, he knew it was because he wanted to invite Letty. As usual though, Vince let it slide and hoped he'd get over whatever grudge he was still holding against Letty. He felt Dom was making a fool of himself.

With his father still being strict as hell, Dom and Vince waited until they heard Anthony's heavy snores vibrate down the hallway. They exited the house through their usual route: out of Dom's window onto the roof and then down onto the porch. Hector parked down the street, waiting in his cousin's car. By now they all had their licenses.

Dom handed Hector the address as he slid in the front seat. When they arrived they wasted no time in grabbing Caronas, mingling with their friends and most of all chicks. They spent the duration of the party playing beer pong, dancing and making out with chicks. By the time they were ready to leave, all three were too hammered to drive. So, Hector had to hit up Phillip to come pick them up. Luckily he was with his girlfriend and they used her car to drop Phillip off and drive them home.

As Dom and Vince stood in front of the porch, they sighed heavily at the thought of having to climb up to the roof in their state. Vince attempted first, but failed miserably and fell into one of the bushes. Dom laughed but was kind of worried because there was no other way to get into the house quietly. Luckily for them, Letty was still awake and could see their swaying silhouettes through the living room window. She silently padded to the front door and unlocked it as quietly as possible to let them in.

Once they heard the door swing open they immediately ducked behind the bushes. Letty couldn't hold back her laughter.

"Hey losers, it's just me," Letty reassured them.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Vince got to his feet and hurried inside, and kissed the top of Letty's forehead for being their savoir. He went straight to his bed passed out.

Letty didn't wait for Dom at the door; she wasn't oblivious to the fact that he had been purposefully treating her like shit. So she left the door open and retreated back to the couch. Dom swayed heavily into the house and fumbled with the locks a few times before getting it right. He kicked off his shoes and sluggishly made his way toward the kitchen and popped an aspirin and downed a glass of water. Feeling as though he could not make it up stairs he flopped down on the couch, landing somewhat on Letty's legs. Thankfully she was sitting up.

"This is my bed for tonight, take your ass to your room," Letty hissed.

Dom sat up quickly and rubbed his eyes. "My bad," he hoarsely grumbled out, but he still didn't move from the couch. In fact he moved close to Letty and the smell of alcohol intensified.

"What are you doing?" she asked, skeptical of his movements.

"Nothing," he heavily breathed out and lightly brushed her cheek with his hand. "I've missed you," he whispered out.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Fast and the Furious or its characters. This fictitious work is for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

Letty nudged Dom lightly with her foot in attempts to wake him from his sleep but all she kept getting was loud snores in response. Finally growing tired she yanked the pillow out from underneath his head causing his head to falter. His eyes snapped open quickly in surprise.

"It's almost going to be noon," Letty informed him. "Let's go already."

Dom did not respond right away and allowed his senses to focus. When images became clear he frowned at Letty quizzically, "What?"

"You said you wanted to finally see my car, remember?"

He paused and tried his best to remember the events of last night and how in the world he could have slipped up and agreed to this. _Fucking beer_, he thought. Dom sat upright and rubbed his head from the pounding that was taking place. He sighed loudly and stood to face Letty.

"My bad, I must have thought you were someone else," he lied and walked past her toward the bathroom without further acknowledgement.

Letty was quite surprised he still wanted to continue his little childish antics after his drunk, but truthful confessions last night. She let out a small chuckle and yelled "idiot" loud of enough to penetrate the sound of the shower turning on in the bathroom as she left the house. He stood under the hot water and winced each time he retrieved little pieces of his conversation with Letty. For whatever immature reasons he wanted to hold out a little longer and continue with his 'mean' streak. However, his drunken state of mind had other plans and finally admitted to missing her, and that the asshole antics were due to his stubborn ass still holding on to what seemed now like a pointless grudge. Now he simply felt embarrassed and could not face her after revealing such strong emotions for her.

After his shower he made a quick trip to the kitchen to eat a snack and take a Tylenol for the annoying pain that continued to haunt his head. He scurried upstairs and retreated back to his room hurriedly to avoid any interaction with Mia. He was sure Letty must have confided in his sister by now and updated her on the latest dramatics he put on. Dom locked his door, turned on his TV and tried his best to forget last night's conversation and the morning's embarrassment. With fatigue still pervading his body he eventually fell back into a deep slumber with his loud snores reverberating to the halls.

Hours passed before Dom's eyes lazily opened and adjusted to the digital numbers on his clock. He slept four peaceful hours and was pleased to awake this time without a pounding headache. He stretched and cracked his toes and sat upright on his bed only to flinch at a figure sitting at the edge of the bed. He was ready to go into defense mode when he realized it was Vince.

"Well it's about time Sleeping Beauty," Vince teased as he resumed playing Nintendo.

"How long have you been in here?" Dom asked as he joined his friend in a game of street fighter.

"About an hour," he informed. "I had to come through the damn window because your ass wouldn't answer the door. I tried waking your ass up to go to Hector's but you wouldn't budge. Guess we'll just hang here until the races tonight."

"My bad, bro. I just really wanted some sleep without Mia or my dad interrupting."

They kept playing video games until Dom's stomach could take no more and started growling louder than TV.

"Damn fool, you better go feed that beast in there before it gets more angry," Vince suggested. "I think Mia made some spaghetti."

The sound of his sisters name made him pause. He was still hesitant about being around her. His sister always had a look when she knew something personal about him or what he's done. He was almost positive she knew by now. Then he quickly wondered if Vince knew. "Hey, you talk to Mia or Letty today?" he asked instantly.

"Yeah."

Dom froze briefly before further questioning, "What did they say?"

Vince paused the game and eyed his friend. "Say about what?"

"I don't know...anything," he nervously responded.

"Um, is there something specific you're looking for here?" Vince questioned curiously.

"Forget it," Dom quickly dismissed, thankful he had yet to find out of what Vince would call sappy shit. "Are they coming to the races tonight?"

Vince ignored his weirdness and unpaused the game. "Probably."

_Great_, Dom mentally hissed to himself. He sighed and dropped the controller on the floor. "Let's get out of here and go get some food. I'm starving."

Vince made no protest and followed suit, "Now you're talking."

The two made their way to a taco stand not too far from the neighborhood and splurged. There was no conversation between them when they were this hungry. Their sole focus was on their food. When Vince finished up his last taco he sat on a bench and watched the various cars passing by as Dom went to work on his last two tacos. He was silent until he heard a fitting song for his friend. He took it as an opportunity to let his friend know that he did indeed know why he questioned him earlier and began to sing along with the song.

"You do something to me...that I can't explain," he started out slowly, waiting for a response from Dom. With the information he learned earlier in the day he was surprised he did not catch on right away, but he continued anyway.

"So, would I be out of line...If I said I _**miss**_ you," Vince belted and bursted into laughter as he noticed Dom caught the emphasis on the word miss.

"Fuck you," Dom managed to say with his mouth full of food and launched his trash straight for Vince's head.

He merely swatted it away and continued laughing. "Don't be a sourpuss. It's okay man, you admitted it, that's the first step."

"You're worse than the little girls you hang around with," Dom angrily spat. Of all people he wished Vince did not hear about this. "You gossip more than them."

"And apparently you show more emotion than them," Vince retorted and was met with the middle finger and Dom walking away from him toward Hector's house.

The whole way their Dom did his best to tune out Vince's sporadic laughter and walk briskly ahead of him. He only hoped he would not bring it up around the rest of the guys. The last thing he wanted was to be the bud of every joke tonight. When they met up with Hector Dom watched Vince carefully and gave him discrete menacing stares, which meant: _you better not say shit_. Vince only offered him a mischievous grin that made Dom want to punch him. When it came time to leave for the races they all piled into Phillip's car.

Before leaving their neighborhood Phillip asked, "Are we picking up the girls?"

"No," Dom quickly replied. "They decided to stay home and play with their barbies instead."

Everyone chuckled and Vince fought off the strong urge to tease Dom. He knew how easily angered his friend could get and did not want to deal with it tonight. He wanted to join the races and the chicks that peppered the place.

Fifteen minutes later the guys arrived at the scene with every other racing fanatic in the city. They met up with their usual friends and began discussing the night's races and drivers. In the midst of good conversation, good music, and good looking women Hector noticed a familiar car pull up beside his cousins. It wasn't decked out but any real racer knew it was a type of car that possessed some potential. He quickly nudged Vince, Dom and Phillip with excitement when he saw who the two people exiting the car.

"Look who drove here man!"

Their group of friends all looked toward what Hector was talking about and saw Letty and Mia standing next to her car. Dom couldn't believe she had the balls to bring her own car and risk being caught by her dad or worse the police. Forgetting the mornings events he quickly stalked over there and questioned, "What the fuck are you doing bringing that here? And with my sister?"

"Who the fuck are you?" Letty challenged. "You're not my dad, now fuck off."

Dom shook his head in dismay, "Whatever, when you get caught you won't be saying that. And Mia you're going to be in a deep shit."

"Only if you _rat_," Mia hissed at him as she walked off with Letty to check out the cars and who was racing.

The rest of the guys applauded Letty's gutsy move and thought she was badass. Her car lacked visual art deco, booming sound system, and nos but she had a promising foundation to build on with her Nissan. Slowly she was becoming the hot topic of the night and it made Dom a little jealous of all the attention she was getting from guys. He wanted to stand beside her and give them all intimidating looks but he was too prideful so he kept his distance and mentally cursed them all.

When money and pink slips were finally at stake all the racers dispersed to another location. Once there, all the cars lined up in their usual positions and the onlookers watched in anticipation. Vince, Dom, Mia, and Letty watched with such fascination. Cars', racing this is where they felt a sense of belonging. When all three races were done every crew slowly started leaving to their perspective after parties. Phillip had to work in the morning and suggested they ride with Letty if they wanted to stay out any later. Much to their dismay of being squashed in the back seat they went with Letty anyway, but not before arguing for five minutes about who was going to sit in the middle.

Dom remained silent as they all complimented Letty's driving skills and how they should make bringing her car a routine on race nights. Before meeting up with some friends Vince convinced them to stop at Fat Burger for a midnight snack as he called it. They all got off and dined inside and talked about their favorite car of that participated in the night's races. It was when they were on their went out of the joint when their night got interesting.

As they were walking back toward the car a red Mazda RX-7 pulled up and blocked their path. "Aren't you kids supposed to be in bed already?"

"Get lost Tran, unless you want your pretty boy face fucked up," Vince growled as the rest of them glared at him.

Johnny only smirked, "Awe, you think I'm pretty. Sorry Vince, I'm not into that kind of thing."

That was enough to send Vince lunging at Johnny but Dom caught him and held him back. "Let it go, bro. Everyone knows he's a chump. Let's just go."

Although it took the better part of Vince to walk away, he did, and they all walked around his car toward Letty's Nissan.

Johnny stayed parked there and made a comment to his cousin loud enough for Dom to hear, "I'm supposed to be the chump yet he's the one walking away scared."

Being called a chump by his long time nemesis was not something Dom could stand for. He instinctively turned around to face Johnny and his cousin Lance who were exiting their car. Dom went straight for Johnny while Vince quickly sprung right back into fighting mode and grabbed Lance. Dom slugged Johnny right in the face to send him flying back. He quickly got on top of him and started throwing a slew of punches. Johnny managed to block a few and throw Dom off of his and get his a few hits in before he got to his feet and started kicking him while he was down. Dom eventually got to his feet and they continued to go at each other. It took little effort on Vince's part to fight off Lance because he was significantly bigger. Mia urged her brother to stop before someone called the cops while Hector tried to calm her down. Letty so badly wanted to jump in and get in on the action but the fights were evenly matched.

The fighting came to halt when a Fat Burger employee came out and yelled, "You guys better knock it off before I call the police."

The word police was enough to make them stop. Neither of them wanted to be in any kind of trouble with their parents. They quickly backed off each other started walking to their cars.

"Meet me a couple blocks down Toretto. Let's finish in a race. Quarter mile," Johnny suggested. "Let's sweeten it by racing for slips."

Dom desperately wanted to take him up on his offer, but he didn't have any kind of money those spoiled brats possessed, nor did he own a car. He hated turning this down but he had no choice, and he was more than certain news of him backing out like a chump would spread like a wildfire. Just as he was about to come up with a clever reply Letty's voice beat him to the punch.

"Deal. He'll be there," she agreed without thinking. Thoughts of possibly losing her car and being in the worst trouble with her parents did not cross her mind. It simply felt right and she trusted Dom.

"Don't keep me waiting," were Johnny's final words before he sped off.

Everyone looked at Letty stunned. "Damn, you're feeling ballsy today girl." Hector said with a grin.

"I'll say," Vince agreed as he patted Letty's back.

"Whatever, let's just go before his ass leaves and starts spreading rumors about us," Letty said as she motioned for everyone to get in the car.

Vince and Hector climbed in the back with Mia positioned in between them in the back seat. Dom just stood there still looking at Letty.

"Why did you did that for, Letty?" He questioned, feeling a little agitated. "You know you could lose your car tonight? Then we'll all be in deep shit."

Letty confidently walked up to him and shoved the keys to her car in his chest. "I trust you," she said honestly. "I know you, and the way you drive, and none of the Trans have shit on you."

This time he could not fight anything back as a smile lifted his cheeks. He was sure he fell for Letty even more in that moment. Even after the stupid way he was treating her she still had his back as much as ever. She still believed in him and their friendship. He was in such awe of Letty that he could not even muster a response. He simply took the keys from her and and they all sped off to meet Johnny a few blocks away.

xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx

Dom gripped the steering wheel tightly as they both revved up their engines. A lot was at stake: Letty's car and the possibility of them never seeing the outside world again if their parents found out. Hector was chosen as the neutral man to do the traditional ready-set-go while Lance, Letty, Mia, and Vince waited at the finish line. When he lowered his hands down for them go, they both took off like bats out of hell. Johnny was ahead by a few inches throughout the majority of the race until Dom finally surged ahead by a couple inches. As they were closing in on the finish line a thought that had yet to occur to Dom until now was: _Did Johnny have NOS?_ He would not put it past the rich little punk to have his car equipped with the hottest commodities for racers to have. He briefly panicked which caused Johnny to go ahead about an inch. He tried quickly to calm his nerves and focused in on one the one thing he knew would calm him down: Letty. After he did that it felt as though he was the only one on the road, he was wrapped so much in the though of her that he did not even realize who won.

Dom looked through his rear-view and saw that Johnny was already turning around to go back toward the finish line so he did the same. When he exited Letty's car the look on Johnny's face and his friends was the confirmation he needed to know the results of the race. Johnny approached him and angrily shoved the keys and pink slip into Dom's chest before walking away pissed off and yelling at Lance to call their driver.

Mia, Vince, Hector and Letty all jumped on Dom yelling with excitement. They were all completely ecstatic that he took a sweet ass car off of Tran's hands like that. Before they could celebrate any further the sound sirens coming their way caused them to disperse quickly. Vince's big brother savior complex took over and guided Mia and Letty into the backseat of the Nissan, while he took over the wheel and Hector jumping in the passenger seat-leaving Dom to take off in the newly won Mazda. With the right about of speeding and clever maneuvering Dom was in the clear while Vince got everyone home safe in Letty's car.

Dom parked the red Mazda behind Letty's car where she was waiting for him.

When she saw him she breathed a sigh of relief, "Glad you made it back safe."

He walked over to her and offered her the keys and pink slip to the car, "yeah."

Letty furrowed her brows and pushed away his hand, "It's yours."

Dom was persistent, it just didn't feel right. "I used your car though. Just take it."

"You were driving you. You kicked ass and won," Letty insisted. "Quit being a stubborn ass."

He finally relented and shoved the keys and slip into his jean pocket. She was right, he was stubborn, but she took the crown and new it would be useless to try and protest any further. He wasn't sure what to say next and stood there quietly with both hands in his pocket.

Letty smiled at his nervousness and closed the gap between them. When she did the warmth that was radiating from her body encompassed Dom and he suddenly found it hard to swallow as a nervous lump was forming in his throat. She put one hand on her hip and cocked her head to the side as a broad grin spread across her face. She was done dancing around the inevitable.

"You can kiss me now"

Dom did not need to be told a second time and hurriedly caught her lips with his. It was pointless to keep his charade of bitterness going, Letty was here now and that was all that mattered. His hands quickly moved from his pockets and engulfed Letty into a strong embrace, causing their breath to deepen. The feeling of skin contact, especially their lips could not have felt more right. They finally stopped dancing around each other and realized that their friendship was merely a catalyst for something bigger, something they discovered in their moment of tender kissing: their discovery of love.


End file.
